1414 Mission Street
South Pasadena CA 91030
PH: (626) 403-7270

Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response: The City has adopted a Disaster Response Plan, administered by the City Manager’s office. The Disaster Response Plan, incorporated by reference into the General Plan details responsibilities and roles of the City staff and supporting entities in the event of a major natural or man-made disaster.

The maintenance of the Disaster Response Plan is important to meet the emergency protection needs of the General Plan buildout population. Additonally, the Public Safety Commission has developed a program that complements the Disaster Response Plan by supporting it with the Community Emergency Response Team. The City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) islocated in City Hall. The Emergency Operations Activation Procedures set forth the responsibilities, personnel, and information necessary to establish the Emergency Operations Center and respond to disasters.

Seismic and geologic hazards:
Geologic events, and seismic activity in particular, are the primary natural hazards of the community. Earthquakes are caused by violent and abrupt releases of strain releases built up along faults. When a fault ruptures, energy is released in all directions from the source, or epicenter, in the form of seismic waves.

Earthquakes generate two types of hazards. Primary hazards are ground shaking and surface rupture along faults. Secondary hazards result from the interaction if ground shaking with existing ground instabilities and include liquefication, settlement and landslides.

The City of South Pasadena is located in seismically active region, in an area of potential fault rupture, strong ground shaking and slope instability. These geologic and seismic hazards can affect the structural integrity of structures and utilities, and in turn can cause severe property damage and potential loss of life.

In California, faults are common, ranging from small breaks of an inch or less, to the San Andreas fault which extends for hundreds of miles. In addition to size, the age of a fault has a direct bearing on the likelihood of generating an earthquake. Many large faults have mot moved for millions of years and are considered “dead” or inactive.

The Alquist-Priolo Zones Special Studies Act defines “active” faults as those that have experienced surface displacement, or movement during the last 11,000 years. Faults classified as potentially active moved during the last 2 million years. Faults that have not moved within the last 2 million years are considered inactive.

Local faults: The seismicity of the Southern Californai region and its relationship to the City of South Pasadena are the Sierra Madre Fault system, the Whittier Fault, and the San Andreas Fault. An earthquake anywhere on any of those faults could trigger secondary impacts on the City.

Three other faults influence the City of South Pasadena: the Raymond Hill Fault, the York Boulevard Fault, and the Elysian Park Fault. Between these three faults, much of the the City is subject to earthquake hazard. Raymond Hill Fault is the only active fault running through South Pasadena that is designated as an Alquist-Priolo Special Study Zone. This fault is a reverse, left-slip, 12 miles in length, and extends through the southern portion of South Pasadena. The Raymond Hill Fault is believed to have moved within the past 3,000 years.