March 19, 2024

Earthquake Study by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Shows Effect on Business

Recent Eathquake Study:  A recent Earthquake study shows a 7.8 eathquake in Southern Portion of the San Andreas Fault Would Affect 434,000 Businesses.   According to a recent study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), A 7.8 earthquake along the southern portion of the San Andreas Fault would affect hundreds of thousands of businesses and millions of workers in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Kern and Imperial counties. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)  didn’t include the impact on San Diego County in its findings. Further, while the bureau didn’t estimate economic damages from such a quake, the study noted that a federal report in 2008 calculated losses from a similar temblor at substantially more than $200 billion.

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BLS noted that the seven counties most affected by the hypothetical earthquake have 621,000 businesses, 6.3 million workers and a combined annual payroll of $303.3 billion. In the areas hardest hit by the quake there are 434,000 employers, more than 4.5 million jobs and $206.5 billion in total annual wages, according to the study. In addition, the study found Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties would account for more than 99% of the exposures where shaking would be the strongest, according to BLS. Finally, the study also found by employment category, the earthquake would affect approximately 522,000 jobs in healthcare, 504,000 in retail trade, 480,000 in manufacturing and 409,000 in educational services. Should such a quake occur, “even in the most damaged areas, not all businesses will sustain damage that will soon curtail their activities, and some businesses that lose capability will return to normal operations,” BLS indicated in a statement. “Thus, gauging economic impact . . . may overstate the business interruption or losses that will occur. However, direct damage to a region’s businesses understates the interactional effects on customers or suppliers inside and outside the damaged areas.”

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