Transferring to San Diego - fear of earthquakes

[TristramShandy]

Earthquakes are the jumbo jet crashes of natural disasters here in the United States - - they are big and showy and get on the news but when compared to other natural disasters/weather phenomena, they aren't as statistically important.

The University of South Carolina put out a "death map" charting natural hazard mortality.

Heat and drought caused 19.6% of all deaths. For the OP who lived in Chicago - - the 1995 Chicago heat wave deaths killed 750 Chicagoans in 5 days. To put that in perspective, there have been 370 deaths in California from earthquakes since the Great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, only 2 of which have happened since that Chicago heat wave. None of them have been in San Diego County.

1995 Chicago heat wave - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Deaths from U.S. Earthquakes

Severe summer weather accounted for 18.8% of the natural hazard mortality deaths; severe winter weather accounted for 18.1% These are the car crash deaths of natural hazard deaths . . . unless they happen like the 1995 Chicago heat wave, they aren't going to get a lot of media time, but like the car crashes, they far outweigh overall mortality rates than the jumbo jet crashes.

You don't have to worry about too many severe summer or winter deaths here.

As the researchers of the study said, "What is noteworthy here is that over time, highly destructive, highly publicized, often catastrophic singular events such as hurricanes and earthquakes are responsible for relatively few deaths when compared to the more frequent, less catastrophic events such as heat waves and severe weather (summer or winter)".

United States Death Map Revealed

Even when you look at the major event deaths, there have been only 2 deaths by earthquakes since 2000 in the United States. In that same time period, 1138 people have been killed in the US by tornadoes.

Sure, California is overdue for deadly earthquakes. They will happen . . . but you're more likely to die from a bee sting or tainted food.

[ibman]

Yes there is the possibility of a bad earthquake occurring in San Diego area but do you live in fear of a blizzard or getting blown into the Lake in Chicago? I left tornado country 50+ years ago and have never regretted it - San Diego climate is unbelievable! I can drive through 4 different climate zones within 2 hours from beach to mountains to desert.

Only 3% of the earth has our climate.

[Chelito23]

Also worth mentioning is why people shrug off earthquakes in most of California--and other posters hit it on the head. These people were marginally located within the outter threshold of feeling the earthquake's weakest waves. Most quakes that are felt in SD have an epicenter nearly 100 miles away in the Imperial Valley, south of Mexicali or in the San Jacinto Mts closer to Palm Springs.

So yes, people shrug them off because locally, they are non-events and only noticeable if you have a chandelier handy or are at rest and it is dead quiet.

Now, travel east to Imperial County and people here are not so non-chalant. People are not hysterical either, but they take note when there is a quake and act accordingly. The local population is very well aware of seismic threats due to the frequent and relatively intense shaking that ocurrs on a somewhat regular basis in the Imperial Valley, especially when compared with LA or San Diego...so it is all relative.

Trust me, most quakes you will feel in SD will be light, barely noticeable and afterwards you will be shocked when you find out it was a "5" or whatever because it was so "small." You might feel a slight vibration, or have a dizzy feeling or feel a thud. That is what happens for the majority of Socal residents in a typical quake unless they live closer to the active faults. If you are near the epicenter of a quake, even a 5 can feel quite powerful and there's a much more jerky motion. They are almost always over within 15 seconds and 30 seconds would be VERY long to give you an idea.

If LA or SD local faults were as active as the Imperial Valley ones, the people there would be much less blasé and take them more seriously. When people whip out their "I'm a native Californian badge" when people are talking about quakes, beware! Lots of people try to wear it as if they were an earthquake veteran when they have minimal, if any, direct experience with strong shaking. Ask how far away they were from the largest earthquake they were in. You will then realize that it is mostly bravado they like to show off to the newbies, coupled with the media's sensationalization of relatively minor events. An informed native will give you a much more sobering account and that will be more reassuring and probably put you more at ease.

Trust me, you don't need to be any more worried about the occasional quake than you do about an ocassinal thunderstorm elsewhere. Likewise, you should remember that sometimes a thunderstorm can be scary, but you usually make it through, much like you will in Socal, even in a stronger quake.

Enjoy SD, it is a beautiful city and in a safer portion of Cali when compared to the majority of the state.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

Trust me, most quakes you will feel in SD will be light, barely noticeable and afterwards you will be shocked when you find out it was a "5" or whatever because it was so "small."

I'm guessing you weren't here for the Easter quake last year? I wouldn't say that one was barely noticeable. For a short period afterwards, it seems like we were getting shakes pretty regularly.

[Chelito23]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

I'm guessing you weren't here for the Easter quake last year? I wouldn't say that one was barely noticeable. For a short period afterwards, it seems like we were getting shakes pretty regularly.

Re-read that sentence you copied and pasted. I mentioned there are ocassional stronger ones, but they ae uncommon and Baja quake was the strongest shaking in SD in decades and there wasn't any major damage anywhere in the county.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

Re-read that sentence you copied and pasted. I mentioned there are ocassional stronger ones, but they ae uncommon and Baja quake was the strongest shaking in SD in decades and there wasn't any major damage anywhere in the county.

I pretty much agreed with your post, but I was responding to the part where you had "barely noticeable" and "5" and "small" in the same sentence. A 5.0 would definitely be felt by most people.

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

... A 5.0 would definitely be felt by most people.

True!

I was in Pomona (next town over) from the Whittier Narrows 4.9 quake. I was in Northridge for their 5.1 aftershock. Believe me, when you're close to a 5.0 you *will* feel it! It'll darn near knock you off your feet!

The only fault I worry about much for San Diego is the Rose Canyon fault. If that goes with anything of any magnitude, I'm guessing there'd be a good deal of damage near to it (which includes Sorrento Valley and downtown).

[karrots]

Just do earthquake drills and fire drills with your kids and make it fun instead of scary. Find a "safe zone", an outside meeting place and have everyone practice and them make sure to have a treat afterward! If you all know what to do when a quake/fire hits you'll feel much better about things. My kids (ages 3-7) actually kind of look forward to earthquakes (we've been through four tremors) and they've never gotten scared yet. Natural disasters happen everywhere, but I always think the unfamiliar ones seem scarier than the familiar.

[Chelito23]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

I pretty much agreed with your post, but I was responding to the part where you had "barely noticeable" and "5" and "small" in the same sentence. A 5.0 would definitely be felt by most people.

You are right...but as I stated in my post, most of the quakes that affect San Diego aren't even centered in the county but rather in the Imperial Valley. So a 5 was pretty strong in the IV, but barely noticeable to most people in SD.

My point was, there arent many quakes with epicenters immediately in SD and usually the stronger ones elsewhere are felt weakly in the populated areas of the county.

[sak9210]

So glad you asked this question. I was wondering the same thing about San Diego. Coming from NJ, earthquakes sound so scary. I also lived in FL, and you at least have notice of a hurricane, and have time to get out of it's path. I enjoyed reading the comments, and wish you luck on your move!