Which city is most likely to have a natural disaster in the next 3 years? (map, Los Angeles)
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I think LA is mostly likely to have a devastating earthquake. If a 9.0 earthquake hit LA most of the buildings would collapse. (That includes the US Bank Tower. It's only designed to withstand a 8.3 earthquake)
I think LA is mostly likely to have a devastating earthquake. If a 9.0 earthquake hit LA most of the buildings would collapse. (That includes the US Bank Tower. It's only designed to withstand a 8.3 earthquake)
No doubt when the big one hits southern california it's going to be devastating. We can only hope it will happen in the middle of the night like the northridge quake minimizing casualties/chaos. But a 9.0 mega quake is virtually impossible to hit with the strike/slip type faultline that is the san andreas. Those mega quakes happen in subduction zone areas (sendai/japan quake) in the ocean and luckily there are non in this region. The pacific northwest is vulnerable to a mega quake of that magnitude however with the Cascadia subduction zone. Many geologists predict the big one in LA will be in the upper 7 range which can still be quite deadly.
No doubt when the big one hits southern california it's going to be devastating. We can only hope it will happen in the middle of the night like the northridge quake minimizing casualties/chaos. But a 9.0 mega quake is virtually impossible to hit with the strike/slip type faultline that is the san andreas. Those mega quakes happen in subduction zone areas (sendai/japan quake) in the ocean and luckily there are non in this region. The pacific northwest is vulnerable to a mega quake of that magnitude however with the Cascadia subduction zone. Many geologists predict the big one in LA will be in the upper 7 range which can still be quite deadly.
In any given year, the biggest risks come from tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes.
Floods usually don't cause that many deaths, since people can usually step out of the way before the water overtakes their areas. Hurricanes need not cause many deaths... if the evacuation procedures are well-organized. Tornadoes are much tougher to deal with, due to their speed and sudden appearance.
One of the worst flooding scenarios would involve the San Francisco Bay Delta flooding, the inland earthen levees collapsing, and a massive flood rolling up to Sacramento, with salt water being pulled inland, and much of California's water supply severed:
And?
There are fault lines everywhere in southern california under heavily poulated areas, doesn't mean they're capable of producing 9.0 + megaquakes.
Read this
Quote:
MASSIVE HIDDEN FAULT THREATENS DOWNTOWN
Daily News
March 5, 1999
Scientists have found solid proof of a massive thrust fault under downtown Los Angeles capable of producing devastating earthquakes across a broad area.
After years of speculation, the discovery published today in the journal Science is the first to decisively map a ``blind thrust'' fault under the city, similar to the previously unknown fault that caused the catastropic Northridge Earthquake on Jan. 17, 1994.
Called the Puente Hills Fault, the newly identified fracture lies two miles or more below the surface and stretches 25 miles south of downtown along the Puente Hills near Whittier and into Orange County near Brea.
``Because it's so close to a populated area the fault has to be considered a serious potential hazard,'' said Peter M. …
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