Here we go again..

Many people don't want to live in California

Many people don't want to live in California because we have earthquakes.

Yes, but at least we don't have an earthquake season.

Good luck with Katrina! Already to the letter K, huh? I'm glad the Motel 6 worked out for you. And at least you can think of yourself as being on vacation! Hey, it's Houston, but it's a change of pace...

Re: Many people don't want to live in California

You hit the nail on the head. My husband and I talked about that very thing last night. I DO NOT want to live in California because of earthquakes, but I've lived my entire life of the coast of South Carolina. Hurricaine season is okay. It's a major hastle and I woke up this morning to find the hurricaine track on the computer. (My husband the surfing nut is like WAVES!!!!! so he tracks them all) That is the different. There is no effective prediction for earthquakes. Satellites tell us to get the heck out of dodge because a big assed storm is coming our way.

I fear earthquakes because it's something unfamiliar and scary. I do not fear hurricaines because I know I can find a safe place to stay. I feared hurricaines when I was a child. Hugo was coming right for us. We couldn't leave the immediate area because of my dad's job, but we did what we could and we were all safe. Granted I spent the night in a golf cart shaft built of concrete under a manmade hill, but I was safe.

My husband and I are talking about moving back to the beach. We now just have to decide what beach. It's his dream to live on the Outer Banks of NC. I don't think we can afford to live there. I would love to move home to Myrtle Beach, but I just don't think the waves are big enough for him there, though I might try to convince him otherwise. I think our compromise will be Wilmington. It's a beach with a town big enough for him to find a decent paying job and to be able to surf before or after said job and it's not much more than an hour from my mom. I really thinks she needs me close right now. Not that I know how to help her, but she depends on me for moral support at the least. She's just been disgnosed with glaucoma. No details yet and I can tell she's scared out of her mind.

Anyway, that's probably more than you wanted to know about me, but you are correct, I don't want to live in California. Earthquakes scare me, but I'm sure they scare me because they are unknown to me. And it's true, I live in a fault and there have been small earthquakes here. There was even a 3.6 in the upstate just this week. Charleston is overdue for a massive earthquake. The last one destroyed the city. I will certainly feel that if and when it happens and maybe after that I'll move to California, but I think I'm too much a Carolina girl.

Thanks for making me think first thing in the morning. ;)

Re: Many people don't want to live in California

one more important thing I meant to say, but took my tangent too far. Nay, you and your family are in my prayers! *hugs*

Re: Many people don't want to live in California

I would agree that hurricanes have become "predictable" in the last 100 years (without airplanes people probably had a hard time predicting hurricans coming in...).

I agree that earthquakes are obviously still unpredictable. I'm hoping that another 100 years from now they'll be just as predictable as hurricanes are today. Or maybe not...

I'll take ten seconds of moderate shaking over one week without power and a 25-foot storm surge flood any day though. Relatively, earthquakes that cause as much damage as a hurricane like Katrina are quite rare. The '94 Northridge quake hit LA pretty bad, and wasn't around for that. UCLA still has a couple of buildings that were useable but were demolished for seismic retrofitting as of last year. Ask me to name the last big earthquake to do damage and take lives in Los Angeles and I can't come up with one.

In San Francisco, there was the great 1905 one, and then the one that shook candlestick park sometime in my 27 years of living. Not too bad if you ask me. Of course, magnitude 3 earthquakes occur daily in California. You cannot feel them unless they happen right under you. I've felt about 4 earthquakes in my time here, one was a 5 underneath my feet that gave me a moderate scare for ten seconds but did not damage anything by me. I felt a 7 over two and a half hours away, and it felt just slightly worse than that five because of the distance. The other two felt like what you would feel if you were sitting on a bench and an invisible person plopped down next to you. "What was that?" is the reaction and the only way to tell it was an earthquake would be to check the USGS website or notice that everyone around you also had the "what was that?" look on their face. That's what a 4 feels like, and there's been enough of those that I haven't felt because I was sleeping or just didn't notice...

So, say a half-dozen feel-able earthquakes over 9 years, only two of which scared me for more than a split-second (and the worst lasting about 30 seconds).

But you're right - the worst part about earthquakes is the unpredictability. But I'd say the ones that do damage / take lives are quite rare. For me, it's a tolerable risk.

Hope the trip goes well and Katrina doesn't clobber your home. She's a bitch, that one.

I've been thinking of you and your family, Nay. *hugs* I hope you return to find your home relatively dry and with very little damage.

Reading the news...

While I don't have a TV on, the news wires coming in are crazy. I hope you guys made it out ok without too much traffic to Houston (apparently not), and I hope everything looks ok when you get back. I'll keep my fingers crossed!