Some San Diego area elementary school students will learn a lesson on tsunami preparedness today as part of Tsunami Awareness Week.
Classrooms across the region will tune in to cable TV or use the Internet to view an Emmy Award-winning animated short produced by the county's Office of Emergency Services entitled "Tsunamis: Know What to Do.'' The video uses an animated crab to teach kids about tsunamis, their causes, warning signs and what to do if one strikes.
"Kids really like this lesson, and Mr. King the crab is a great teacher,'' said Holly Crawford, director of the county Office of Emergency Services. "In San Diego, our young people live on the coast or go to the beach, so knowing how to recognize and respond to a tsunami could prove critical one day.''
A showing is set for 12:15 p.m. at Carmel Del Mar Elementary School during its student-produced and anchored newscast.
A tsunami wave in San Diego County could either be caused by a strong local earthquake or a quake hundreds of miles away. Tsunamis pose the greatest risk to beaches, bays, tidal flats and coastal communities, according to the county.
The county offered some tips for tsunami preparedness: determine a home's elevation, distance from the coast and whether it is in a tsunami hazard zone; pick a location to go if a tsunami strikes that is at least two miles inland or 100 feet above sea level; move inland or to higher ground if the tide rises or recedes rapidly as it could be a sign of an approaching tsunami; walk quickly inland or to higher ground following an earthquake near the coast
rather than driving; and take tsunami warnings seriously.
Tsunami and emergency preparedness information is available at readysandiego.org.
