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v. PUBLIC SAFETY ELEMENT PURPOSE The purpose of the Public Safety Element is to provide information, policies, and programs directed toward reducing the potential for human injury and loss of life, and to minimize property damage and economic and social disruption due to natural and human-made hazards. RISKS OF HAZARDS All urban areas in California are subject to a variety of naturally-occurring hazards as well as hazards caused by human activities. Risks to life and property within the Planning Area are most commonly posed by geology (earthquakes; landslides; fire; flood; aviation, train and auto accidents; and the accidental discharge of hazardous materials. None of these hazards can be avoided entirely or mitigated completely. However, potentially devastating impacts presented by such hazards can be reduced through the recognition of the safety risks and the application of safety standards designed to protect life and property to the greatest feasible extent. The Public Safety Element contains policies and programs which establish "safety" criteria for evaluating new developments and which establish standards for the City's emergency response services and programs to protect life and property. GEOLOGY AND SEISMICITY Geologic Setting The Pleasanton Planning Area is located within the Amador Valley, which is part of the Coast Range geologic province of California. The Coast Range province is a large area of folded and faulted rocks situated along the western edge of the North American continent. The Amador Valley is a depression in this rock formation which joins the San Ramon Valley to the north with the Livermore Valley to the east. The geologic conditions which have formed the topography surrounding Pleasanton are the result of a global pattern of moving continental plates which have shaped the earth's outer surface over hundreds of millions of years. The underlying geology of sedimentary rock in the Pleasanton Ridge and the Southeast Hills, the thick deposits of unconsolidated sediment on the Valley floor, and areas of older landslide deposits are factors, which along with the proximity of several earthquake faults, create a geologic setting susceptible to a number of geologic hazards. 1ms Element briefly describes these hazards. The potential extent and severity of any geologic hazard varies throughout the Planning Area depending upon the underlying geology, topography, surface soil type, groundwater table, and seismicity. t Certain portions of the Planning Area are more at risk to particular geologic hazards than 1 Seismicity is earth movement phenomena as related to earthquakes and also a measure of an area's susceptibility to earthquakes. Public Safety 082906, dean V-l City Council 8/29/2006