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be paramount in such an event. Damage assessment, cleanup, and recovery activities would also be highly important, and would likely require external cooperation. Concept of Operations Minor earthquakes may result in direct impacts such as road congestion from traffic light outages, broken water pipes, and cracks in roadways. Individual City departments such as Public Works, Police, and Fire will likely be able to act independently within their normal operating procedures to address any issues, coordinating with external agencies such as PG&E as needed. In some cases, a response to minor earthquakes may require central coordination, leading to activation of the EOC. Major earthquakes, with resulting widespread damage, will require EOC activation. Regardless of the size of the earthquake, if the EOC is activated, response activities will be guided by the EOP. The EOC will be responsible for primary direction and control for the duration of the event. Refer to the Concept of Operations section in the Basic Plan for general information about the role of the EOC. Earthquakes are regional events, and any impacts experienced by Redwood City will likely also be experienced by nearby communities. In the event of a substantial earthquake, the City will need to coordinate its efforts with neighboring communities and the San Mateo County Operational Area, and potentially with the Regional Level for the Cal OES Coastal Region. State and Federal activities will be coordinated in accordance with the Bay Area Earthquake Plan, a joint effort between Cal OES and FEMA. During a major earthquake, surrounding communities will need to commit their resources to immediate responses within their own jurisdictional limits. Therefore, mutual aid will likely need to wait until immediate issues are addressed sufficiently to free up regional resources, or until resources arrive from more distant communities that experienced fewer or no effects. Evacuation routes will be developed in coordination with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and the California Highway Patrol. Tasks Redwood City will be responsible for the overall direction and control of any emergency response activities within the City limits. In the case of a major earthquake, this will likely involve search and rescue, traffic control, evacuation and sheltering, security in affected areas, cleanup, frequent public communications, and other tasks as needed. See the Concept of Operations section in the Basic Plan for general information. Due to the sudden nature of earthquake events and the widespread damaged caused by a major earthquake, there are two critical tasks that must be performed immediately after an earthquake occurs: ❑ Rapidly survey the community to obtain a general sense of conditions and the scope of damage. This should include identifying areas of more severe damage, determining the status of critical facilities and infrastructure, and noting any blocked roads or safety hazards that could impede or threaten successive response activities. ❑ Check on the status of City staff who are responsible for emergency response activities, including whether they would be able to reach their base of operations (noting that blocked D-14