HR: 14:40h
AN: S23C-05    [Abstracts]
TI: The Hayward Fault Exposed! 20,000 Visitors Made it a Success
AU: * Stenner, H
EM: hstenner@exponent.com
AF: Exponent, 500 12th Street, Oakland, CA 94607, United States
AU: Zoback, M
EM: Mary.Zoback@rms.com
AF: Risk Management Solutions, 7015 Gateway Blvd, Newark, CA 94560, United States
AU: Schwartz, D
EM: dschwartz@usgs.gov
AF: US Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AB: Last year, as part of the commemoration of the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake, an exhibit was built that gave the public a chance to better understand earthquakes and the faults that create them, and how to be prepared for a major earthquake. Open for six months, the exhibit in Fremont Central Park attracted more than 20,000 visitors from throughout the San Francisco Bay area and beyond. The main draw was the opportunity to descend into a 12-foot-deep excavation that provided up-close views of the Hayward fault itself. Visitors came to see the fault but stayed to hear its story and view displays about being prepared for the coming quake and the science behind it. The Hayward fault is an excellent subject to spark public interest. The large 1868 earthquake, which was known as "the great San Francisco earthquake" until 1906, caused the Hayward fault to slip up to 6 feet in areas that are now densely urbanized with homes and town centers. Further, the fault has been researched extensively, revealing that we are currently in the time window during which the next big earthquake, perhaps a repeat of the 1868 earthquake, is likely to occur along the Hayward fault. And to top it off, the fault experiences tectonic creep that provides fairly dramatic evidence of fault movement by cracking and offsetting curbs, parking lots, and streets near the exhibit site. Visitor feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Local groups came en masse and were spurred into developing plans for responding to a large earthquake in their community. School children came on field trips, saw what a fault looks like and how fault movement affects what they think of as static features of their world. Many visitors mentioned that such an exhibit should be a permanent Bay Area attraction. Two years in planning, the event required large amounts of volunteer time, sponsorship funds, agreement from the local government, and dedication from its developers. A permanent exhibit would undoubtedly be successful. It is the funding and support of the local government that are the biggest challenges. Now that the idea of an Earthquake and Fault Exhibit has proven successful, the common pre-exhibit question of: "Who would want to see a big hole in the ground?" is easy to answer.
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0815 Informal education
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
DE: 7221 Paleoseismology (8036)
SC: Seismology [S]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting