Los Angeles Officials Tell Residents to Prepare for 'Two Weeks on Your Own'

Los Angeles fire officials, on the anniversary of Japan's devastating earthquake, advised people to be ready to be on their own for two weeks if disaster hits.

As people in California honored the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, officials warned residents to prepare for longer than the previous recommendation of being without power and services for 72 hours.

"A lot of people don't realize that we are earthquake prone in California, but we also could get a tsunami," David Stone, Los Angeles County fire assistant chief, told CBSLA.com. "We just haven't had one in a long time."

Stone warned residents to prepare for a number of disaster scenarios, including how to cope for being at least "two weeks on your own."

"The message for a lot of us needs to be, 'Be ready for anything,'" Larry Collins, battalion chief, said. "The message used to be 72 hours, but we've seen in disasters like [Hurricane] Katrina, even [Hurricane] Sandy recently, that, really, if it's wiped out your infrastructure, and your electricity grid and your communications, it will be very likely be more than three days before you start getting food, water and other supplies coming in from outside."

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