California, its earthquakes, and what Easterners think of it

[Shinova]

If you haven't noticed, the past few days I was off traveling around New York, Washington DC, Niagara Falls, Pennsylvania, Virginia, etc.

And I was in the Smithsonian and they had this one exhibition where they recorded earthquakes that happened in mainland US. The display would go through years very quickly and dots, with varying sizes, would fill up the screen, representing each individual quake.

Well, for about half a minute the display went through about 30 or so years and the East coast had maybe one or two. The New York and DC area had not a single earthquake.

California, on the other hand, was riddled with more dots that you'd find after you empty a gattling gun into a wooden box. And one bystander looked at the display and motioned his friend over to see it. He then said, "Now I know where I won't be living."



What's with that? California receives over a HUNDRED AND FORTY earthquakes per year, yet most are so miniscule you can hardly feel them. Additionally, most of the big ones are 3 or 4 pointers, which nearly all Californians will simply shrug off as if they were nothing.

Yet, East Coast people seem to have this view that California is a dangerous place, where neighborhoods topple and fall to ruin from earthquakes and all.

Ironicly, hurricanes wreak FAAAAARR more damage to a modern city than a earthquake can ever do, and hurricanes and other similar thunderstorms populate the East Coast.

So to you Easterners: earthquakes are VASTLY overrated, so stop looking at us Californians as if we're lunatics for living in a place that's far safer and far more pleasant weather-wise than where you guys live!



To the board: What do you think?

[Trytostaydead]

Personally though, what I'm scared of is a major earthquake occuring while I'm taking a shit.

[Andrew J.]

Hurricanes? Excuse me? I live in upstate New York, and the only time in recent memory that a hurricane posed even a minor threat was years ago. It was good for a day off from school (in September, no less!) but it was hardly as dangerous as a major California earthquake.

Besides, you've got wacko liberals in your state, which are much more dangerous than any natural disaster.

[Wicked Pilot]

Personally though, what I'm scared of is a major earthquake occuring while I'm taking a shit.

If you're constipated then that might jiggle it out.


To the topic at hand, you're gonna find problems no matter where you live, whether it be earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, ice storms, drought, termites, mormons, etc. There really is no escaping it. Just take the necessary precautions, and get adequate insurance, and you will most likely do fine.

[Montcalm]

The most dangerous thing in California is the unlicensed gun owners,in other words street gangs.

[Darth Wong]

Up here in Ontario, we don't get earthquakes or hurricanes. We don't even get certain varieties of reptile and insect because of the yearly winter.

[Joe]

Ironicly, hurricanes wreak FAAAAARR more damage to a modern city than a earthquake can ever do, and hurricanes and other similar thunderstorms populate the East Coast.

You are aware that hurricanes tend to strike coastal areas specifically? Most of us Easterners are completely out of the way of them.

[Sea Skimmer]

Ironicly, hurricanes wreak FAAAAARR more damage to a modern city than a earthquake can ever do, and hurricanes and other similar thunderstorms populate the East Coast.

I highly doubt this; show me a modern city that suffered the same level of damage as Kobe or Istanbul from a Hurricane. Hurricanes can tear up poorly build wooden houses pretty well but they don't smash skyscrapers or collapse huge sections of freeway. They also don't generally start massive fires whicvh burn vast areas.

[Shinova]

Ironicly, hurricanes wreak FAAAAARR more damage to a modern city than a earthquake can ever do, and hurricanes and other similar thunderstorms populate the East Coast.

You are aware that hurricanes tend to strike coastal areas specifically? Most of us Easterners are completely out of the way of them.

I know. But Florida is not a state easily dismissed.



There was one documentary, however, that pointed of a possibility of an earthquake going off in or near New York City. It was said that even a five pointer could unleash large amounts of devastation.

[haas mark]

Well, I've never been to the west coast.. but I lived a large chuink of my life in Norfolk, VA. I KNOW that hurricanes are much more damaging than an eartquake can be (for the most part). I would like to see CA, just to visit, but to be honest, I wouldn't want to live there, but the earthquakes aren't why. In fact, at some point, I might be moving back to the East Coast to Virginia Beach, VA, and will have to deal with hurricanes and tropical storms. Again.

~ver

[haas mark]

Hurricanes? Excuse me? I live in upstate New York, and the only time in recent memory that a hurricane posed even a minor threat was years ago. It was good for a day off from school (in September, no less!) but it was hardly as dangerous as a major California earthquake.

Besides, you've got wacko liberals in your state, which are much more dangerous than any natural disaster.

Try living further south... If Hurrican Felix had hit the jetstream a few years back, my family would have had to evacuate from Norfolk.

~ver

[haas mark]

To the topic at hand, you're gonna find problems no matter where you live, whether it be earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, ice storms, drought, termites, mormons, etc. There really is no escaping it. Just take the necessary precautions, and get adequate insurance, and you will most likely do fine.

~ver

[Howedar]

Ironicly, hurricanes wreak FAAAAARR more damage to a modern city than a earthquake can ever do, and hurricanes and other similar thunderstorms populate the East Coast.

I highly doubt this; show me a modern city that suffered the same level of damage as Kobe or Istanbul from a Hurricane. Hurricanes can tear up poorly build wooden houses pretty well but they don't smash skyscrapers or collapse huge sections of freeway. They also don't generally start massive fires whicvh burn vast areas.

However, the average California earthquake is vastly less destructive than any hurricane ever named. Only the truly giant ones cause any damage at all, while even tropical depressions can cause flooding and shit.

[Sea Skimmer]

However, the average California earthquake is vastly less destructive than any hurricane ever named. Only the truly giant ones cause any damage at all, while even tropical depressions can cause flooding and shit.

He said "than a earthquake can ever do"

[Howedar]

And I said "however".

[Shinova]

He said "than a earthquake can ever do"

I don't think anyone's ever recorded a 12 point+ earthquake yet.

The reason why San Francisco got burned to the ground was because of some stupid lady IIRC, not because of the earthquake directly.

[Sea Skimmer]

I don't think anyone's ever recorded a 12 point+ earthquake yet.

The reason why San Francisco got burned to the ground was because of some stupid lady IIRC, not because of the earthquake directly.

No San Francisco burned because the earthquake had smashed everyone's chimneys, causing cooking fires to ignite houses in over a dozen places and join with several other fires already burning. This was made all the worse by the fact that the quake had smashed every water main.

You're thinking of Chicago or something.

[TrailerParkJawa]

Ever since the quake of 89' I have not found even the smallest earthquakes to be much fun. There is a permanent nervousness ever since. When you feel the shaking, the first thought is "I hope this is not another big one." With that said, I dont break out in panic or freak out, like people from the East Coast often do if the feel a quake while visiting. I just am not amused by the small tremblers anymore.

However, as a Californian, I must say tornados scare me. The idea of the sky picking up my car and flinging it through the air is an indication of how strong ma nature can be.

[Sea Skimmer]

However, as a Californian, I must say tornados scare me. The idea of the sky picking up my car and flinging it through the air is an indication of how strong ma nature can be.

I recall there was some tornado that struck Los Angeles, which managed to hit a trailer park..

I like living near Philadelphia, no earthquakes, hurricanes lose most of their strength before hitting and my town is located so that any really significant flooding is impossible and tornados only rarely form.

[Raxmei]

Ever since the quake of 89' I have not found even the smallest earthquakes to be much fun. There is a permanent nervousness ever since. When you feel the shaking, the first thought is "I hope this is not another big one." With that said, I dont break out in panic or freak out, like people from the East Coast often do if the feel a quake while visiting. I just am not amused by the small tremblers anymore.

However, as a Californian, I must say tornados scare me. The idea of the sky picking up my car and flinging it through the air is an indication of how strong ma nature can be.

Apparently there've been several quakes since I moved here. I didn't notice. Big ones are a bit of a concern, but I don't really worry about it.

As a former resident of Minnesota, I'm also more scared of storms than quakes. Minnesota gets a few tornadoes every year and lots of severe thunderstorms. It can get a bit scary, particularly when the wind makes the house shake and the basement where you've taken shelter starts flooding. But it isn't really all that dangerous. Tornadoes have a very narrow damage path and probably won't kill you even if they hit the town you're in

[Macross]

I recall there was some tornado that struck Los Angeles, which managed to hit a trailer park..

I have only witnessed one tornado in my entire life. I was at school at the time... and it just happened to land in a trailer park a mile away from my school... Those things really are tornado magnets.

[Darth Yoshi]

As a native Californian, I must say that earthquakes are nothing to worry about. The ground is moving on the East Coast too. Just not as suddenly.

[Pu-239]

Live in a suburb 14 miles SW of DC, near Ft Belvoir. Nothing happens here.

[irishmick79]

Southern wisconsin is tornado country, as far as natural disasters go. Back in the eighties a town not too far from where I live got demolished by a big tornado. Every year, we get a good thunderstorm that sends a few tornados through.

[RedImperator]

A major earthquake will make even a really bad hurricane like Andrew or Camille seem like a gentle spring rain. Even if a hurricane directly struck Miami, the level of damage wouldn't approach San Francisco in '06 or Anchorage in '64. But a really gigantic earthquake will strike California maybe once or twice a century, while the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard might get more than one bad hurricane in a single year.