East Valley School At ‘Ground Zero’ For Major Quake

SALTON CITY – Over the past few months, there has been some shaking going on around the Southland. The small quakes are nothing compared to what the U.S. Geological Survey predicts to eventually hit our area. Now, one west valley school is doing all they can to make sure their students are taken care of when the big one hits.

Not if, but when it happens, they’ll be ready.

“We are preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best,” says Regina Van Wey, West Shores High School Emergency Coordinator.

West Shores High School is a small school near the Salton Sea, more importantly, it’s near the San Andreas Fault.

“The U.S.G.S basically put us at ground zero,” says Van Wey.

The U.S. Geological Survey predicts an 7-point-0 or greater earthquake will eventually hit Southern California, causing major damage. Getting help and getting supplies won’t be easy.

“They predict we could be without services for up to 3 weeks,” says Van Wey.

This school will likely become the evacuation center for people around the Salton Sea. The problem is, they don’t have the supplies or food they’ll need.

“We’ll have people like in Katrina, dying of starvation,” says Van Wey.

To prevent this, Van Wey is asking parents for a 5 dollar donation. The money will get each student at the school a bag with a couple bottles of water, granola bars, nuts and other snacks.

“It’s survival food for a while cause we don’t have enough food. It’s all shipped out here since we are so far down here,” says Van Wey.

Van Wey is also looking for large donations to buy extra food and supplies for people who live near the school.

“We don’t have money to buy things,” says Van Wey.

Giving five dollars will make sure every student will have a supply bag, but Van Wey hopes they won’t need it.

“They’ll get a receipt and if we don’t have a quake, which is what we hope, they’ll get it back.”