Don't residents worry about this?
2007-04-04 13:18:50 · 10 answers · asked by KatGuy 7 in Travel ➔ United States ➔ San Francisco
It's pretty slim, really.
First of all, most earthquakes are small enough that we never even notice them, let alone see any damage.
Second, if you look, the number of people who have actually died in earthquakes is a pretty small number.
When you compare this to the number of people in Florida or Texas, who die from tornadoes & hurricanes every year, San Francisco is actually a very safe place to live.
No, we don't worry about it. There's no point, since we can't stop them, or even see them coming. If it's our time, it's our time, and there's nothing we can do to stop it.
2007-04-04 13:28:02 · answer #1 · answered by abfabmom1 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Much of the city of San Francisco (at least the part I am in) lies on bedrock. Usually the areas on the hills are pretty stable because you're sitting on solid rock. The areas that would be dangerous in a major earthquake (which are pretty rare, compared to the hurricanes and tornados elsewhere) are the Marina and some parts of the Financial District. Luckily I'm not a yuppie/ investment banker :)
However fire in major earthquake would be an issue, but most building codes require a lot of precautions against fire.
2007-04-05 12:30:55 · answer #2 · answered by lemnlimelinoleum 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the risk is very low. However, there is a lot you can do to minimize it. There's nothing that says you have to buy an OLD house on top of steep eroding right next to the coast. Also, if you have working fire extinguishers, batteries, water, a meeting place, and all the earthquake basics, and know better than to run screaming in the middle of the street when a big one happens, then you'll likely be ok. with earthquakes it's all about risk minimization and being calm and prepared.
People are scared of quakes simply because they're unfamilar with them. Yet, those same people often live in tornado and hurricane country but aren't worried about those because they're familiar with them and know what to do.
2007-04-05 03:24:43 · answer #3 · answered by Kos Kesh 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm a lifelong Bay Area resident, interested in the subject of earthquakes.
The highest death estimate I've ever seen by the USGS for a catastrophic Bay Area earthquake is 50,000.
There are 7,000,000 people in the Greater Bay Area.
That's 1 in 140.
But I have also more regularly seen death figures as low as 15,000, which would be 1 in 467
In my opinion as a Bay Area lifelong resident, most Bay Areans, *especially* the non-natives who are from other states or nations where they didn't have to live with the reality of earthquakes, are in very heavy denial about how catastrophic the next 6.5 M or greater quake we have in the immediate Bay Area will be.
2007-04-06 16:30:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i never even think about it to be honest with you. even after living through the loma prieta 1989 quake. I would take our sporadic earthquakes of hurricanes and tornados any day. the only places I would probably not want to live in a large earth quake would be anywhere on landfill which would be the Marina District in SF (the area that had major damage in 1989), treasure island and parts of berkeley near the college. I saw a map published a few months ago where they showed what areas were most at risk and those were problem spots.
2007-04-06 01:18:42 · answer #5 · answered by Lisa H 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because I live in the San Francisco Peninsula it scares me like the dickens. I am so close to the San Andrea's fault and next to an open ocean and a big Volcano up in Clear Lake. (Don't forget Mt. Shasta) All California would go under water and Arizona would have a new shoreline.
But do I move? No. Because in the South there's hurricanes, tornadoes, Yellowstone Volcano, prejudice, East coast bombings (WTC), and what not. So I might as well be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
2007-04-04 20:33:10 · answer #6 · answered by Agent319.007 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no! people do not worry about this. there has not been a big earthquake in nearly 20 years. a lot more people die and lose their homes in other disasters like hurricaines in other parts of the country.
2007-04-05 21:40:18 · answer #7 · answered by aly 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's really slim unless fire starts or the quake is massive. People have better odds of dying in a car wreck or being murdered.
2007-04-05 01:07:21 · answer #8 · answered by bratty brat 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Risk is prolly half of that in winning lottery which is one in 788 million so earthquake risk would be one in 394 million which means live your life and forget about it.
2007-04-04 20:27:22 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I worry about getting killed in a car accident but I still drive my car.
2007-04-04 23:37:17 · answer #10 · answered by Lori 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋