Beyond its role as a leading research consortium, the USC-based Southern California Earthquake Center is a major force in public awareness campaigns locally and around the world.

SCEC co-produced a booklet, Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country, that has been distributed free to hundreds of thousands of Angelenos, and has become a standard reference for agencies working on earthquake preparedness. The booklet is now available in Spanish.

Mark Benthien, SCEC’s manager of outreach, works with counterparts around the globe to raise awareness and preparedness through the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative, an international nonprofit organization supported by the United Nations. The group’s next annual meeting will be in Los Angeles this fall, as part of the 2008 Los Angeles International Earthquake Conference.

Also this fall, SCEC will collaborate with state and local emergency planners to put on The Great California Shakeout, billed as the largest emergency response drill in state history.

“We get involved because we’re the major player in earthquakes in the city,” Benthien says.

But there are others. Proving that earthquake preparedness has as at least as much to do with communication as with science, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena teamed up with SCEC and the U.S. Geological Survey to plan a yearlong campaign that includes a comprehensive sourcebook on earthquakes for media; a public awareness campaign relying heavily on social networks, mobile technologies and alternative media; and a major civic preparedness event, planned for a prominent downtown Los Angeles public venue.

“We think this is a unique way for a design school to be pro-active,” says Richard Koshalek, president of Art Center. “Let’s design a communication strategy that will reach as many people as possible, to make them more aware,” and ultimately, to save lives.

USC is closely involved in the Art Center project, with SCEC’s Tom Jordan contributing an essay for the media sourcebook, and Martin Kaplan of the USC Annenberg School for Communication authoring a graphic novel on preparedness (illustrated by Art Center alumnus Darren Ragle).

– Carl Marziali