If you enjoy earthquakes you'll love California!! (San Francisco, Oxnard: tornado, earthquake)

[sedonaaz]

this is pretty interesting. at the usgs site, rankings of most destructive (deaths) earthquakes in history. here are a few:

1556 Shensi, China 8.0 830,000 deaths
2004 Sumatra 9.1 283,106 deaths (mostly the tsunami)
1976 Tangshan, China 7.5 255,000 deaths officially. other estimates to 655k
1927 Tsinghai, China 7.9 200,000 deaths
1920 Gansu, China 7.8 200,000 deaths
1923 Kanto, Japan 7.9 143,000 deaths
1948 USSR 7.3 110,000
1908 Messina Italy 7.2 70,000 to 100,000
2005 Pakistan 7.6 80,361
1935 Pakistan 7.5 30,000 to 60,000
1990 Iran 7.7 40,000 to 50,000

[SandyCo]

Originally Posted by sedonaaz

this is pretty interesting. at the usgs site, rankings of most destructive (deaths) earthquakes in history. here are a few:

1556 Shensi, China 8.0 830,000 deaths
2004 Sumatra 9.1 283,106 deaths (mostly the tsunami)
1976 Tangshan, China 7.5 255,000 deaths officially. other estimates to 655k
1927 Tsinghai, China 7.9 200,000 deaths
1920 Gansu, China 7.8 200,000 deaths
1923 Kanto, Japan 7.9 143,000 deaths
1948 USSR 7.3 110,000
1908 Messina Italy 7.2 70,000 to 100,000
2005 Pakistan 7.6 80,361
1935 Pakistan 7.5 30,000 to 60,000
1990 Iran 7.7 40,000 to 50,000

I would much rather experience an earthquake in California than any of the countries listed above. All of that unreinforced masonry is pretty scary! I remember the news footage from the Mexico City earthquakes in 1985. Wow, that was very bad - and yet it didn't even make this list! That's because "only" 10,000 people died.

[sedonaaz]

yes. I know in roman times whole towns disappeared when earthquakes flattened all the buildings built out of stone. No doubt CA has reduced its risks greatly with earthquake codes.

[CentralCoastAdvisor]

Earthquakes can be scary and after my OCC Geology classes in college I decided it would be a good move to be in an earthquake safe area of the state. This way I still can have my cake and eat it too (the beauty and convienience if living in CA). Diablo isn't the only power plant along the coast of Cali, and pretty much all the plants are on built right on faults. I live about 25 minutes south of Diablo and I no longer worry about the threat of the Big One here on the Central Coast.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by CentralCoastAdvisor

Earthquakes can be scary and after my OCC Geology classes in college I decided it would be a good move to be in an earthquake safe area of the state. This way I still can have my cake and eat it too (the beauty and convienience if living in CA). Diablo isn't the only power plant along the coast of Cali, and pretty much all the plants are on built right on faults. I live about 25 minutes south of Diablo and I no longer worry about the threat of the Big One here on the Central Coast.

Isn't the Central Coast pretty close to the San Andreas? From what I hear, the next "big one" on the San Andreas is expected to be centered in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs area), which is quite a distance from the Central Coast. Nevertheless, the San Andreas runs north-south in the mountains between the Central Coast and the San Joaquin Valley. All of the small towns in those mountains have temblors all the time.

That said, I did see a seismic study not long ago showing the area around Lompoc to be at low risk for earthquakes and shaking from liquefaction, so maybe the Central Coast is a good spot, though there has been activity over the past couple of years with the Paso Robles and San Simeon quakes.

[CentralCoastAdvisor]

Yes, this is true but nothing like being in an epicenter of a quake. I was in Santa Maria at the time of the Paso quake an hour north of where I was and yes I felt it but it was no big deal. No major damage south of Atascadero. But the good that came out of that happening up here is that all the historic buildings have or are going through retrofitting. There are hills and mountains all around to signify faults and there are faults shaking all the time all over Ca, but since I don't feel them I could'nt care less. I'm very familiar with the SA fault line and know the probability that I'm anywhere near the epicenter of the big one is slim to none as you pionted out it's predicted to hit just north of the Saltan Sea. Obviously we'll all feel it here in California if it is indeed like they say but I can sleep easier at night because of my location. So there indeed are places that are safer than others when it comes to avoiding Earthquakes in CA...

[Roma]

Well Ohio had a earthquake the other day. I think they said it was a 3.6 or something. It's very rare out there but they had one.

[Collideascope]

Originally Posted by cre8

Well, it better be. Hardly a second chance with a nuclear accident. To me the gamble is way to high to have nuclear power plants in California. But that's me; I'm risk averse. Anyway, the plants are here now, so what can one do? I've heard talk that Diablo might be converted to gas. Couldn't be soon enough for my sensibility.

I'm risk-averse.

I also make it a point to actually understand risk.

There is something about the word 'nuclear' that makes otherwise rational people think illogically.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by Collideascope

I'm risk-averse.

I also make it a point to actually understand risk.

There is something about the word 'nuclear' that makes otherwise rational people think illogically.

Hmm.... Death and a lethal half-life of 10,000+ years might be difficult (for me) to comprehend, but they surely warrant extreme caution, at minimum. This is illogical? Maybe it's possible to understand the risks, yet not trust the precautions. I'm not willing to gamble my life on the fact that Edison Company has my best interest at heart -- nor that they haven't cut corners or made mistakes in their assessments of placing a nuclear power plant on an active earthquake fault. I suspect that the plant (Diablo) could fail in a big enough quake, and if it does, being downwind I could be dead.

But, what the hey. I'm writing this on a computer powered by electricity, and until that electricity comes from photovoltaic panels on my roof, who am I to speak?

[cynwldkat]

To see how active CA is with earthquakes on a weekly basis check out:
quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs----this is for one week!! Rockin'-n-rollin'.