The 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake (ci38457511) on July 5 and its 6.4 foreshock on July 4 (ci38443183) were the first payout-triggering events to take place since Jumpstart’s October 2018 launch. With a relatively low population (about 1/10 of 1% of California’s population) in the affected area, none of our existing customers were located in the payout zone.
Can Aftershocks Be Predicted?
A large earthquake just hit! Is this the mainshock or a foreshock or an aftershock? Nobody knows until the earthquake shaking starts again in the next day or week. Is another earthquake inevitable? Can the experts predict aftershocks?
Magnitude 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake
UPDATE July 6: It’s been a long, scary night with hundreds of aftershocks. We stand in solidarity with our fellow Californians whose lives are affected by this earthquake. We are so relieved to hear initial reports of no deaths and no building collapses.
All of us at Jumpstart send wishes of continued safety for residents and responders.
Magnitude 6.4 Ridgecrest Earthquake
There have been a series of earthquakes today, July 4, 2019, near Ridgecrest, CA.
The largest of these, Magnitude 6.4, was large enough that it likely created a Jumpstart payout zone, but only in the region near the epicenter. The reason we say “likely” is that the determination is not final until 24 hours after the occurrence of the earthquake.
Update: On July 5, 24 hours later after it was determined that there was, in fact, a Jumpstart payout zone due to the M6.4 earthquake.
As a reminder, Jumpstart’s payment zone is defined by a peak ground velocity of 30 cm/sec. This is roughly equivalent to the “red zone” on the USGS Shakemap. The Shakemap for today’s earthquake can be viewed at this link:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ci38443183/shakemap/intensity
This is a good reminder to spread the word about how Jumpstart can help build financial preparation for an earthquake.
Here’s a sample social post:
Check out @yourjumpstart, a new way to be financially prepared for the next #earthquake. jumpstartrecovery.com
What is a Soft Story?
During an earthquake, soft story buildings pose an extra risk. Some soft story buildings collapsed in the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1994 Northridge earthquakes. Cities around California are now catching up by adopting soft story ordinances and requiring retrofits. Do you live in a soft-story building?