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BACKGROUND: On August 24, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck South Napa in California. Napa County reported hundreds of injuries, 1 death, and substantial damage to property and county infrastructure. The California Department of Public Health assisted Napa County Public Health (NCPH) in conducting a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) survey to assess earthquake-associated injuries, chronic disease exacerbations, and mental health problems.
METHODS: We used a 2-stage cluster sampling design to select a target of 210 representative households in the City of Napa representing 30,005 household units. During September 16–18, we conducted household interviews with questions adapted from prior CASPERs and PsyStart (University of California), a psychological triage screener. Frequencies and confidence intervals were weighted to account for the sampling design.
RESULTS: Of the 201 participating households, 19% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10–27%) reported an injury of at least 1 household member, including broken bones, deep cuts, and sprains, with 43% (95% CI: 19–67%) of these resulting from cleanup activities. Sixty-four percent (95% CI: 55–72) of households reported a chronic health condition; 26% (95% CI: 18–34) of these indicated worsening of their conditions, most commonly mental health conditions, asthma, and diabetes. Twenty-seven percent (95% CI: 21–33) of households reported that at least 1 member had experienced an earthquake-associated traumatic event or loss, e.g., observing a direct threat to life of a family member or being trapped during evacuation.
CONCLUSIONS: NCPH communications should emphasize the injury risk from cleanup and risks for chronic disease exacerbation after an earthquake. Napa residents might require sustained postdisaster mental health services because of the high proportion of traumatic experience and loss reported. NCPH reports using these CASPER results for requesting and allocating resources from federal disaster relief funds and donations, including to expand mental health services, and for supporting future preparedness efforts.