When I was first invited to bring the one of our Quake Cottage™ earthquake simulators to Yuma, Arizona for an earthquake preparedness summit my first thought was, “They have earthquakes in Arizona?”

I did some research and discovered that most certainly Arizona is earthquake country. The state is criss-crossed with something called “The Transition Zone”, and area of regular seismic activity that separates the Colorado Plateau in the north and east from the Basin and Range Province to the south and west. Frequent temblors occur in the transitional region, with the capability of producing up to magnitude 7 events.

The Yuma area itself not only can be impacted by these earthquakes, but also by activity from the San Andreas Fault system to the west and north, as well as the earthquake activity in Mexico. The 2010 Easter Sunday 7.2 earthquake caused some intense shaking in Yuma, and as the subsequent aftershocks marched north in a rather systematic fashion, toward the San Andreas Fault, no doubt nerves in the entire region of southwestern Arizona were rattled.

Tomorrow night the Quake Cottage™ will be on display for the entire Yuma community to experience. The media has been alerted, and we are expecting a high turnout. In addition, the preparedness summit and handyman training that bracket the public event are shaping up to be well attended. Next week’s Rock The Quake will let you know how things turned out.