Drought=Earthquakes (San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento: 2013, water heater, live)

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

This will definitely be the year that California FINALLY falls into the ocean.

So you mean I can finally buy ocean front property in Arizona?

[Fran66]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

I'm 58 years old, and have lived in CA for 40 of them, including my childhood years. I have never experienced a major earthquake.

You must have been comatose for your 40 CA years.

[saibot]

Originally Posted by Fran66

You must have been comatose for your 40 CA years.

Uh, maybe not. It depends on where you live and what you mean. My husband is 47 and has lived in south OC (Mission Viejo area) for his entire life, and he has NEVER felt an earthquake that did any damage to people or property in his immediate vicinity. That maybe what the previous poster meant. Of course, he has felt earthquakes that were more severe somewhere else. But in general, he feels pretty blase about earthquakes.

I'm 45 and was living near the Whittier/La Habra border at the time of the Whittier quake (1987). Some old brick buildings near the epicenter crumbled and a lot of chimneys broke. We had a couple of bricks out of our chimney, a couple of cracked windows, and a whole lot of books/dishes/miscellany on the floor. It was fairly traumatic, but not life-threatening. A couple of days of cleaning up (including a couple more days after the large aftershock) and life went on.

That was, I think, only a 5.9 quake but after the experience I'm much more anxious about earthquakes than my husband is. Still, so far so good...

[BayAreaHillbilly]

If one examines the vast scale of the plate boundary, the forces involved, and the nature of tectonics ... um ... no.

[chuckmann]

Originally Posted by user_id

You said this before, repeating it doesn't make it true. Roads, highways, bridges, etc all get heavily damaged in a major earthquake. You won't have water, electricity, gas, etc.....all utilities will go down and even if they didn't...it wouldn't be save to use them. In a serious earthquake, one greater than 7.0, utilities could be out for weeks to months for many people.

Among the major earthquakes I have experienced was the 1970 Los Angeles quake (centered in Sylmar or Trona or someplace ;like that IIRC) Neighborhood 240 people died when a non earthquake designed old folks home collapsed. Again, IIRC.

Not too many blocks from where I lived the brick steeple of a brick church collapsed. My roommates and I lost a lot of empty wine bottles that were shaken off the shelves in which we were storing them. Happened very early - maybe 5 or 6 am. I would have slept through it but one of my roommates was a nervous nelly and ran out of his room screaming "we gotta get out of here or we're gonna die!"

We did not lose utilities at all, and the roads in Eagle Rock were just fine, thanks.

In those days of pre earthquake hardened construction, the LA area did lose a number of overpasses, so I'm sure some commuters and travelers were inconvenienced. But for most people, utilities were available and life was just fine. I know we had no problems driving to Beverley' burger stand for dinner

The Hollister quake I mentioned I felt in San Rafael. It happened during working hours. As I recall, mostly all of the damage occurred in Santa Cruz. Again, for most people in the region, life continued with incident.

I have no idea where you get your information, or upon what basis you state that utilities would be unsafe to use after a major quake. For everyone.

Electricity unsafe to use? Water unsafe to drink? Just because there was an earthquake in the region? Sorry but I have lived here and my experience is vastly different from what you imagine. Even in a major earthquake, damage is generally localized. As a result of Loma Prieta in 1989, a very few buildings in the Marina burned due to gas fires, My own mother in law's home suffered minor damage. All over the city masonry collapsed from non earthquake standard buildings. and yeah, electricity was out for a day or two. I'm pretty sure the water still ran, and I'm also pretty sure that there was gas available for cooking. Up in Marin, things were fine and dandy. As was true in San Jose and most other places in the Bay Area. Bart, even through the transbay tube still ran once the electric was back up. Yeah the Bay Bridge had a section that collapsed and year the Cypress structure collapsed. But all other bridges were fine, and I dont recall any overcrossings that collapsed.

I think you, like my long ago roommate, are a nervous nellie whose imagination far exceeds your actual experience.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by chuckmann

We did not lose utilities at all, and the roads in Eagle Rock were just fine, thanks.

The Sylmar earthquake was 6.6 and Eagle Rock was 25~30 miles from the epicenter. Utilities went out for days in many locations during that earthquake and even if the water was still running it would be stupid to use it. Utilities went out for days to weeks for many people in the 1994 earthquake as well.

Originally Posted by chuckmann

Electricity unsafe to use? Water unsafe to drink? Just because there was an earthquake in the region? Sorry but I have lived here and my experience is vastly different from what you imagine.

Electricity will go down with any sort of significant earthquake. And, yes, water is not safe to drink "just because" there was a large earthquake. That is because water infrastructure breaks and can get contaminated, the water has to be rigorously tested before its safe to drink again.

Your description of what happens after a large earthquakes is far from reality, for example, see a timeline of the Northridge Earthquake:

Timeline: The 1994 Northridge Earthquake | NBC Southern California

Most of the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas were without major, water and gas for days and some weeks.

[eccotecc]

Today's 6.0 quake in Napa is causing service disruption of gas, electricity, and water. There have been several fires reported and a trailer park was devastated by numerous fires. If there is any additional information please share.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

I'm 58 years old, and have lived in CA for 40 of them, including my childhood years. I have never experienced a major earthquake.

You were not around for the 1970 Sylmar earthquake that was a 6.5, the 1987 Whittier Narrows quake that was 5.9 or the Loma Prieta quake in 1989 that was 7.1?

[user_id]

Originally Posted by eccotecc

Today's 6.0 quake in Napa is causing service disruption of gas, electricity, and water. There have been several fires reported and a trailer park was devastated by numerous fires. If there is any additional information please share.

Yeah....and that earthquake was only 6.0 and had an epicenter in a somewhat rural area. Would have been far worse if it occurred closer to more populated areas.

[marcopolo666]

Originally Posted by eccotecc

Today's 6.0 quake in Napa is causing service disruption of gas, electricity, and water. There have been several fires reported and a trailer park was devastated by numerous fires. If there is any additional information please share.

There's a forum thread just for that already created :
//www.city-data.com/forum/calif...-bay-area.html