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frequency of wildfires in Cabarrus County is relatively moderate. Since 1992, there have been 601 wildfire incidents resulting in a total of 455 acres burned in Cabarrus County. Cabarrus County has 86,600 acres of forest land covering approximately 37% of the total land area. North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Division of Air Quality enforces the state open burning regulations; Cabarrus County through its Fire Prevention Ordinance also enforces open burning regulations. However, residential build -up accesses to terrain are factors that can lead to negative effects from wildfires. The Division of Forest Resources has responsibility for protecting forest land from fires. This program is managed by a cooperative basis with Cabarrus County. Emphasis of the program includes fire prevention, suppression and enforcement. Cabarrus County consists of rolling terrain in the Piedmont section of North Carolina. The concentration of Loblolly Pine Plantations is on the eastern and southern parts of the county which have more fire potential and higher values. The dominant timber type is still Oak- Hickory Fuel Type 55.6% followed by Loblolly — Shortleaf Pine 25.4 %, Oak- Pine 10.8% and Oak- Gum at 8 %. Wildland Urban Interface is scattered throughout the county and continues to grow with new, foreclosing and current development in areas with significant slope combined with fuel types that are potential hazards during both spring and fall fire season. The current trend of close spacing in housing development further adds structures into the fuel mix. The northwest corner of Cabarrus County has been heavily developed with little to no consideration for the Wildland Fire Hazards. This would be the area bounded by Iredell and Mecklenburg Counties, I -85, NC 3 and 29. The terrain can vary greatly from flat or rolling to deep steep gullies presenting control problems. The southern part of Cabarrus County bounded by NC 29, 601 and NC 200 Mecklenburg, Stanly and Union Counties has seen development recently and it has been rather large. This part of the county tends to have more extreme weather conditions concerning both wind and rain. Large blocks of woodlands still exist here. The eastern side bounded by I -85, NC 601 and 200 and Stanly and Rowan counties is rolling to fairly short steep slopes. This area is the least populated. The urban interface is more dealing with 1 -5 structures and smaller subdivisions both new and older. 8. Earthquakes. (a) An earthquake is a series of vibrations induced in the earth's crust by the abrupt rupture and rebound of rocks. It is caused by a slip on a fault, which is a thin zone of crushed rock between two blocks of rock. An earthquake occurs when stresses in the earth's outer layer push the sides of the fault together. Stress builds up and the rocks slips suddenly, releasing energy in waves that cause the shaking. Earthquakes can cause severe damage to property and extensive loss of life. Earthquakes can occur at any time of the day and are not related to weather patterns. An earthquake cannot be prevented, although mitigation measures can be taken, particularly structure measures, to reduce the impact that an earthquake has on the surface. Annex A Hazard Identification and Analysis A -6 1 December 20 9cnment number s F -6 Page 110