arises from past programs aimed at a wide spectrum of emergencies,
particularly civil defense against nuclear attack. New or strengthened
programs are needed to enhance public preparedness.

FEMA has recently entered into a cooperative effort with California
State and local governments to prepare an integrated prototype
preparedness plan to respond to a catastrophic earthquake in Southern
California or to a prediction of such an event. The plan's completion,
in late 1981, promises to improve substantially the state of readiness
to respond to the prediction and the occurrence of an earthquake in
that area and to provide a model which could be applied to other
earthquake-prone regions of California and the rest of the country.


F. FINDINGS, ISSUES, AND ACTIONS

The _ad hoc_ committee responsible for this review developed several
significant findings related to the implications of major earthquakes
in California and our capabilities to respond to them. It then
identified major relevant issues raised by these findings and caused a
number of actions to be taken. A brief discussion of the results of
its review follows.


1. Leadership

=Finding=: _Effective leadership at all governmental levels is the
single most important factor needed to improve this Nation's
preparedness for a catastrophic earthquake in California._ The problem
of emergency preparedness is severely complicated because