How do you get over fear of earthquakes (Los Angeles, Whittier: apartment, house)

[Dj1990]

I always want to visit L.A. but then I imagine myself crushed under a building.

[Voyageur]

Consider the number of people that actually live in California (about 37,000,000) then consider the number of people killed in California by earthquakes in the last half century (206 + 11 from a tsunami generated by an earthquake in Alaska).

Then do a little math.

You can toss in the Big One if you want, considering the likelihood that it will happen during the short window of time when you are in Los Angeles, then compare it with the ratio of deaths to area population as well as the areas mostly likely to suffer the most damage from the Big One (not Los Angeles but points further east and north).

Then do a little more math.

Driving around Los Angeles carries a far, far greater risk of dying than does the specter of an earthquake!

[kiyoshi]

Originally Posted by Voyageur

Driving around Los Angeles carries a far, far greater risk of dying than does the specter of an earthquake!

This is what helps me get over my fear of most things in life. If you sit behind the wheel of a car every day you're taking a risk every day - one of the biggest risks you can take, in fact. Everything else just falls beside that risk as another risk.

Living is a risk. You risk catching a disease, inheriting a disease by simply continuing to breathe every day. There's always uncertainty. But it shouldn't stop you from doing the things you want in life!

[Dj1990]

That's hot.

[Charles]

I experienced two pretty big ones, 1971 and 1994 and also 1987 (Whittier). The 1971 and 1994 scared the heck out of me as they hit at 559AM and 431AM respectively - while I was in a deep sleep. Even now, if I feel a medium quake, my heart rate jumps. Maybe this is because of those two past experiences, a PTSD type thing. Rationally and consciously, I realize there is little chance of death or injury, but those two experiences seemed to present a deep threat - all the noise, darkness, windows rattling, fear that someone is breaking in at those times in the morning.

[SandyCo]

Honestly, it's terrible being woken out of a sound sleep to everything shaking around you in the dark. At the time you have no idea what's going to happen - how long the quake will last, if your house/apartment will stay standing, if this is a local medium-sized quake or a devastating quake 100 miles away, etc.

I'm still afraid of earthquakes, but I figure the chances of me dying in an earthquake don't even compare to the chances of being struck by lightning elsewhere in the country. I'm also grateful that at least we have earthquake construction codes here; can you imagine being in Istanbul, Turkey during a big earthquake?! When even medium sized quakes occur in places like that, the casualties can number in the hundreds of thousands!

Also, you can hide under your bed from anything awful, refuse to drive, etc. - and an airplane can still crash into your house and kill you. That sounds kind of fatalistic, but it's true. When your time is up, it's up. Until then, we can't live in fear.

[SeptemberRays]

Our buildings are built quite well and within earthquake code.
Come on out and visit. You'll love it and won't even think about earthquakes
you'll have such a good time!

[Ceece]

Therapy. But really, there is no reason for you to ever visit LA anyway so you have to ask youself if it's worth it or not.

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by Ceece

Therapy. But really, there is no reason for you to ever visit LA anyway so you have to ask youself if it's worth it or not.

.

Anyway, just rationalize to yourself that a) major earthquakes don't hit that often, b) neither do minor ones and those are actually kind of fun, and c) regardless, you have no control over it, so try not to worry. (Easier said than done, I know...but it's possible!)

[bigdumbgod]

Don't worry about earthquakes - the sky is falling anyway. Chicken said so. Have a tall drink and at least then you can enjoy the paranoia!.