I feel the same way about quakes as Debi, Saddina and others have said. I'd take an earthquake over hurricanes and tornadoes! I lived not too far from 1992 7.3 Landers Earthquake and felt the 1994 6.7 Northridge Earthquake and the 1999 7.1 Hector Mine Earthquake. Of course, there have been a number of 4s and 5s in there too. Having been born and raised near the San Andreas fault, I really don't mind earthquakes. Most newer houses are built to withstand 7s and low 8s (my current house has NO damage from the Landers quake, which happened just months after DH bought it). Plus, you can buy earthquake straps and that shelf dough stuff to hold things down. DH refuses to hold our TV down. He says that it'll be an excuse to buy a new one!
Since we live and work on opposite sides of the San Andreas fault, we usually keep an earthquake kit in the car, which includes tennis shoes, camp stove and canned food, backpacking backpack, sleep bag, first aid kit, etc. An 8.0 on the SA fault is expected have 12-15 ft of offset, which means the freeway will most definitely be closed. Therefore, we have the equipment to hike home.
If you get a chance, watch the CA ShakeOut video. A bunch of groups (Universities, USGS, CA State, etc) got together and started the Great CA ShakeOut to give awareness (or preparedness) for the big one in SoCal. The San Andreas is long overdue for an ~8.0 earthquake. The simulation (yes, that video is based on a FAKE earthquake...it did not happen...yet) is based on a likely, but the not the strongest, event that can occur on the SA fault very soon. The fault is a boundary between the Pacific Plate to the west and the North American Plate to the east. The fault runs from the Sea of Cortex (between Baja CA and mainland Mexico up through San Francisco and beyond off the coast of NorCal. Where the Pacific Plate, North American Plate and Juan De Fuca Plate all meet is called a triple junction, which is where the Eureka earthquake just occurred. But, don't think it is just one fault. The SA fault only takes up ~50% of the slip along the plate boundary. Oh and No, CA will not fall off into the ocean.
You know you live in CA when you build the chicken coop to be able to withstand high winds and earthquakes...not snow loads.
Shelby, Shelby, Shelby, just drive to Vegas! What better place to hang out til the power is back on.
While the state has had a number of large quakes, very few produce much damage at all. Including this latest one. Broken windows, a few cuts, power was out for about 10 hours. No big deal. California learned alot from th 1971 Sylmar quake. 5.6 and freeways collapsed, hospitals fell over, our chimney was two blocks away. Now we are mostly seismicly fit.
Did you see the interview with Schwartzenegger during a quick jolt? He kept talking while a picture fell off the wall in teh background. The interviewer laughed and Schwartzenegger said that from CA (well, for several decades now anyway), small jolts are nothing.
The different amounts of damage were amazing. I live about 15 mi north and 5 miles east of Eureka. We had a couple knick-knacks tip over, the bird cage swung, and the fish tank splashed a little. Friends in Eueka proper - esp. near the mall - had their stuff TRASHED! One friend spent 3 hours cleaning up all the glass that had spewed out of her cupboards, and her stereo is completly destroyed (the shelf unit it was on ended up tipped over in the cenet of the room). You just never know. However, I can't imagine living where tornadoes can cause your house to explode in the middle of the night. I lived in WI. for the first 27 years of life, but we lived near Lake Michigan and I only saw one funnel cloud high in the sky. I wouldn't have wanted to live out in Kenosha, or any of those counties to the west.
