SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. has proclaimed March 25-31, 2012, as “Tsunami Preparedness Week.” The full proclamation text follows:
PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA:
Tsunami is a term of Japanese origin describing the high ocean waves that sometimes result from offshore seismic events. Over the past two hundred years, the coast of California has experienced at least two dozen tsunamis, fifteen of which have damaged our coastal communities. Most recently, on March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 quake near Honshu, Japan, generated a tsunami that claimed at least one life and tens of millions of dollars in property on the California coast.
While we mourn the devastation, we should also acknowledge the preparedness efforts of the California Emergency Management Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service, and local governments throughout California, without which the damage would have been far greater. Each year during Tsunami Preparedness Week, local, state and federal agencies work together to inform the public about the dangers of tsunamis and what to do before, during and after one occurs. I encourage all Californians to learn more about this threat and take steps, as appropriate, to secure their lives and property against future tsunamis.
NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim March 25-31, 2012, as “Tsunami Preparedness Week.”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 26th day of March 2012.
EDMUND G. BROWN JR.
Governor of California
Secretary of State.