Councilmember Investigates Water Line Ruptures

In an effort to determine the cause of the burst water lines over the past ten days, Councilmember LaBonge contacted earthquake expert Dr. Lucy Jones to ask if seismic activity could be to blame.
“We have to do everything we can to determine how these ruptures happened to prevent another surprise,” Councilmember LaBonge said. “We had two extreme incidents over the weekend, but smaller leaks are occurring all over the city, several in my district alone. If one of those leaks is going to cause a flood, I want to know so that we can take precautionary measures now.”
Two separate water lines burst within two miles and three days of each other in the San Fernando Valley. The first break occurred on Sept. 4th and sent mud and water into the streets, homes and businesses of Studio City. The second break in Valley Village on Tuesday morning caused a sink hole large enough to engulf a fire truck.
Dr. Lucy Jones, Chief Scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey, told Councilmember LaBonge that seismic activity cannot be blamed for the ruptures.
"There has been no unusual seismic activity anywhere in Los Angeles that could explain the water main breaks," Dr. Jones said. "The earthquakes are monitored jointly by Caltech and the U.S. Geological Survey. We distribute all our data openly on the Internet. You can see all the earthquakes recorded in the last week by clicking here."
On Wednesday, the City Council had an in-depth briefing from top-level officials from the Department of Water of Power on the causes of and response to the ruptures.