OT earthquakes was Re: SC - Currant history (Was Currants vs Zante raisins) Long

[Huette von Ahrens]

- --- Bonne of Traquair <oftraquair at hotmail.com> wrote:
> how long does it take to gain that talent?  I'm a
> little worried about the 
> earthquake thing.  On the other hand, the
> hurricane/tornado thing is getting 
> tiresome, lately it seems even the plain
> thunderstorms are worse than they 
> used to be.  Am I going out of the frying pan, into
> the fire?
> 
> bonne
> (yes I'm in North Carolina, no I don't live in a
> trailer, thankyouverymuch!)

No, you are not.  Earthquakes strike without warning
and are over in seconds.  Hurricanes and tornados have
lots and lots of warning and waiting and waiting and
waiting.  In my opinion, it is much easier on your
nerves to experience the earthquake, pick up
everything that has fallen or broken and get on with
your life.  Aftershocks are rarely as bad as the
original and are just mildly annoying.

You are moving to Orange County, which has not had a
major earthquake in the 48 years that I have been
alive.  If you should ever experience an earthquake,
California is the safest place to do so.  With every
earthquake, the California building codes have been
tightened up and made more strict.  While there was
damage done during the Northridge Earthquake, most was
from older buildings and bridges that had not yet been
retrofitted [meaning they had not been brought up to
current code].  However, most of the bridges have been
finished.  The Northridge was 7.8.  About 56 people
died.  One year later, to the day, Kobe Japan had a
7.8 earthquake and thousands died and many buildings
destroyed.  Turkey and Italy have had several 5.6
[approx.] earthquakes and thousands died. Everything
about surviving earthquakes depends mostly on the
quality of the building that you are in.  In
California, we have the safest and are constantly
trying to improve. 

And by the way, a 5.0 earthquake is twice as strong as
a 4.0.  A 6.0 is twice as strong as a 5.0 and 4 times
as strong as a 4.0.  Or that is what a seismologist
from Caltech once told me.

When you come in August, I will help you prepare an
earthquake kit and how to make your house earthquake
safe.

Huette  


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