Natural Gas Earthquake Shut-off Valves Installed for Menifee CA Homes and Businesses

A natural gas earthquake shut-off valve automatically shuts off your gas service when an earthquake of a sufficient magnitude occurs at your home’s location. After the quake has stopped and you have determined that it is safe to do so, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for restoring your gas service. You will need to make sure no gas leaks exist and re-light your pilot lights. You must ensure that your appliances are safe before operating them. The Gas Company or a service agency can restore your gas service, but remember that it may take many days or even weeks before someone can come to your location in a major emergency. (The Gas Company charges a fee to reset valves and re-light pilot lights.)

If there is a major earthquake or seismic event, this valve will reduce the possibility of a gas fire or explosion by stopping the flow of gas into your home.

Earthquake Valve Installation Requirements

If you choose to have an earthquake gas shut-off valve installed, or are mandated to have one by your insurance company or the local building code, the valve must be installed on the downstream side of the meter. The downstream side is the customer side of the meter. See picture:

NOTE: When you hire a licensed contractor to install your valve, it is important that you ensure that the valve is installed on the downstream side (that is, the customer side of the meter), not on The Gas Company’s. Earthquake valves are not permitted in utility curb meter vaults. Earthquake valves are not permitted in utility curb meter vaults.

Building Codes:

1211.18 Earthquake-Actuated Gas Shutoff Valves.
Earthquake-actuated gas shutoff valves, certified by the State Architect as conforming to California Referenced Standard 12-16-1, shall be provided for buildings when such installation is required by local ordinance. Earthquake-actuated gas shutoff valves which have not been certified by the State Architect shall be prohibited in buildings open to the public under mandatory installation by local ordinance.

CPUC Decision 01-11-068
Effective February 10, 2002, California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) Decision 01-11-068, prohibits contractors or homeowners from installing Earthquake Shut-Off Valves (EQV) on The Gas Company side of the gas meter.

In addition, The Gas Company no longer installs earthquake shut-off valves for its customers.

Are Earthquake Valves Really Necessary in Menifee CA?

As to the potential for a Catastrophic Earthquake in our area, what I found is the answer is yes and maybe. But then the same “Maybe” also applied to the folks in El Centro and Mexicali on April 4, 2010.

The yes part is pretty straight forward. We are just as susceptible to a 6.5 to 7.5 magnitude earthquake from the Elsinore and San Jacinto faults as the faults causing the 7.2 Magnitude quake near El Centro and Mexicali last year. The fault systems responsible for that 7.2 quake are part of the major active faults that are northwest-southeast oriented right-lateral strike-slip faults that are common in mechanism to the San Andreas fault and parallel the Elsinore and San Jacinto faults, that run north of the Mexico-USA border.

Elsinore Fault Statistics:

TYPE OF FAULTING: right-lateral strike-slip
LENGTH: about 180 km (not including the Whittier, Chino, and Laguna Salada faults)
NEARBY COMMUNITIES: Temecula, Lake Elsinore, Julian
LAST MAJOR RUPTURE: May 15, 1910; Magnitude 6 — no surface rupture found
SLIP RATE: roughly 4.0 mm/yr
INTERVAL BETWEEN MAJOR RUPTURES: roughly 250 years (This is debatable)
PROBABLE MAGNITUDES: MW6.5 – 7.5
MOST RECENT SURFACE RUPTURE: 18th century A.D.(?)
OTHER NOTES: Recurrence interval given above suggests slip of 1.25 to 1.5 meters per surface-rupturing event.

So does it make sense that you should have an Earthquake-actuated gas shutoff valve installed for your home or business? Of course it does.