inadequate at best.

As discussed below, the review indicates that all is not well in
earthquake plans and preparedness. Current plans and preparedness are
judged to be adequate for the "moderate" earthquakes most likely to
occur frequently in California. By moderate it is meant an event
causing property damage on the order of $1 to $2 billion. Such an
event, however, will severely tax existing resources and provide a
major test of management relationship among different governmental
jurisdictions and levels. For a catastrophic earthquake, current plans
and preparedness are clearly inadequate, leading to a high likelihood
that Federal, State, and local response activities would become
disorganized and largely fail to perform effectively for an extended
period of time.

B. STATE AND LOCAL RESPONSE

Although there are widely differing approaches, local emergency
planning in California generally consists of a basic plan and a series
of contingency plans. The basic plan establishes the authority, sets
forth references, addresses hazard vulnerability, states the planning
assumptions, establishes an emergency services organization, assigns
tasks, formulates a mutual aid system, and directs the development of
specific support annexes. For those hazards identified in the basic
plan, a separate contingency plan is then developed to address the
unique nature of the hazardous event. The contingency plan contains
service support plans for each of the functional operations, including
detailed standard operating procedures. The planning efforts of local
jurisdictions are coordinated with adjacent jurisdictions and the
California OES for consistency.

A plan is not considered complete without the support annexes which
make the plan operational. The survey undertaken for this assessment
disclosed that approximately 93 percent of the jurisdictions examined
have existing, basic plans; 50 percent have completed annexes; 28
percent of the basic plans addressed an earthquake hazard
vulnerability; 35 percent have planned for earthquake contingency; and
only 1 percent (one city) has a plan to respond to an earthquake
prediction.

At the State level, the California OES, as an integral part of the
Governor's Office, functions as his immediate staff and coordinating
organization in carrying out the State's emergency responsibilities.
Specific emergency assignments have been made to 34 State agencies by
the OES Director through a series