Need4Speed750 said:
Done!
How often do you guys out there in that area get these earthquakes ? Are they usually pretty bad when they happen? I know we all see on the news about all the damage,but we usually dont hear about them unless they are really bad ones.
This may sound funny and a bit flippant to our friends in the Southeast but it's not at all (my heart goes out to all affected by the hurricanes).....
but i'll take a hurricane over an earthquake anytime.
I've been through a few (Whittier Narrows, Northridge) since moving to LA in '84. Thankfully I don't remember many growing up in San Diego. In any other natural disaster you at least have some kind of warning. If it is any consolation, be thankful that you have satellite imagery and advisories. And that they develop so far out to sea before they even get to shore. You can flee, you can prepare for what comes after because you go through it every year. It is expected, NOT predicted. You have a "hurricane season" a "tornado season". There is no "earthquake season". It just happens.
You can get out of the way of a storm. If the weatherman says expect 25 inches of snow tomorrow, you'll get it. It can occur at anytime of the day, along at least 8-12 major fault lines that crisscross the Southern California basin. Top put it in some sort of perspective:
By the time you have finished reading this post, your split-level, 3 bath, 4 bedroom mortgage is now a one-story winepress that will become a no-story mound of destruction during the next aftershock. No warning, no chance to evacuate. 3:00 in the afternoon or 2:30 in the morning.
Hurricane damage is predictable. It has happened before so authorities know what to expect and how to tackle the task of clean-up and getting everyone back to normal. I don't care what anyone else says, the last major quake that gave us lessons on what to do was in '94. Things have changed. We have a freakin' subway! In earthquake country??!! I don't ride the Metro. Playa Vista development near ritzy Marina del Rey is sitting on landfill that could liquify if a quake hit it. An entire community dropping 4 feet into beach quicksand.
Hurricane victims may not have a home to come back to but in a 7.8 or 8.0 (the famous Big One), most SoCal'ers won't have time to get out, period.