I grew up in Southern California, and as weird as it may sound, I miss earthquakes.
Growing up, I remember the Sylmar quake in the San Fernando Valley, we felt it pretty good in Redlands, some 60-70 miles away.
It was frightening and exciting all at the sametime. (I know, I need help)
Sure there are blizzards and tornadoes here in the midwest, but for the most part, you know they are coming and can prepare.
You never know when an earthquake is going to show up.
I’m more afraid of earthquakes here in Chicago than I ever was living in the Bay Area. At least in California, we knew what to do in a quake, and prepared accordingly. If there’s a big one on the New Madrid zone, we are going to be fucked in the Midwest because we are totally unprepared for it.
Let’s see. It’s Christmas eve. Its 85 degrees and sunny. Humidity is at 20%. We’re headed to the community pool.
Am I crazy to be living in CA? You can have your “white Christmas”.
There’s a reason why housing prices are high. You’ve heard of “location, location, location”. Well the weather has a lot to do with it as well.
We bought our house 18 years ago here in south Orange County for $175,000, now its worth $1,175,000 and we’ll have the mortgage paid off in 8 years. But it really doesn’t matter because I’m not going anywhere.
I know…terrible, ain’t it? I just wish the sun would go away. And that flawless blue sky…so boring. I just called friends in Wisconsin to complain about our weather, and they were oh so sympathetic. Those lucky bastards…they have snow, freezing temperatures, and all the other things that are supposed to go with Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere.
Pity us…we don’t have the pleasure of shoveling out the driveway.
::d&r::
Stranger
Naughty, naughty. Gloating angers the temblor gods. 
I envy you SoCal folks. For a few months each year. December is one of those months.
I don’t envy your traffic, prices, or congestion, but it’s a helluva place to visit.
I would never live in Commiefornia simply due to their Nazi gun laws…
[dumb question]
You can’t actually see the fault can you?
[/dumb question]
Sure I can. It’s kinda obvious when you know what to look for. Scroll down to “San Andreas Fault.”
You may laugh, but the whole two years that I had the unpleasant misfortune of living in SoCal … it never rained a drop. Never rained a drop. I missed it. There are no seasons in L.A. Just the neverending relentless sunshine. NO SEASONS. Each day was twin to the first. Gah. I was so happy to go back home to “real” weather. YMMV.
Well, we had crazy rain here last year. And there are seasons–you know, the grey haze season, the blue sky season, and the burning-down-the-mountains season. But I know what you mean; there’s no proper autumn (my personal favorite) and I do get wistful for it, as well as a cross-country skiing season (though I only got one of those out of the three winters spent in Wisconsin).
And I miss thunderstorms. Occasionally they have “lightning” out here, and all the natives get terrified (perhaps understandibly, given the inflammible nature of the chapparal covering the San Gabriels and San Bernardino mountains) but it ain’t anything like a good High Plains thunderhead rolling in.
On the other hand, I don’t snovel show, and had to walk around today in a tee shirt. So there are tradeoffs in everything.
Stranger
Do I think you’re crazy to live in an overpriced area that’s due for a major earthquake? No, of course not.
Granted, look where I live.
You prepare as best you can and enjoy life while it lasts.
I know. Which gets back to what opened my post with and what LSL Guy said and you’re agreeing with. Now we just have to get the insurance companies in line with our thinking.
It is a gamble. But in the case I’m talking about the woman has to choose between flood insurance for something that might happen and, oh, say, Medicare when she’s already got health problems, so there’s no gamble there – it’s a certainty her health is crappy. It’s not like she can choose to not buy food or pay her utilities. That $200+ a month for flood insurance is money she simply doesn’t have. And for the other people in her situation, they do gamble. Sometimes they gamble and lose. In her case, she’s lived there 26 years and hasn’t been flooded yet. Doesn’t mean it won’t happen next year, but if it does I can’t fault her for not having flood insurance.
Now, if it were me I’d sell the place and move somewhere that wasn’t in a flood zone. That’s why I was interested in that “earthquake zone” information. It’s always best to live in as safe a place as possible in a given area.
But you try getting a 70+ year old widow who can dither endlessly over what table to sit at in a restauant to do anything as decisive as that. Like many in her generation “decisive” is something she turned over to her husband when she got married and she’s never gotten in back – though with this woman I’m beginning to doubt she ever had any in the first place.
The government passes two bills: the first says that building inspections will be done by private architects. The second says that construction companies can pick and choose who will do their inspections. What could possibly go wrong?
Yep, people here are generally pretty calm about the impending earthquake, but a lot of subconscious fears are getting taken out on this guy (rightfully so, in my opinion). With all the people howling for his blood, I kicked around the idea of putting him on my Celebrity Death Pool list. Still, if Aneha hangs, there are a lot of others who should hang with him.
As this story was breaking, we received a letter from the managers of our apartment building. According to them, the construction firm that put up this building had about 400 buildings in Kobe at when the 1995 quake hit, and none of them collapsed. So I’m feeling a little more comfortable with my chances in the Big One than some of my neighbors are.
Thanks, thats pretty interesting.
This is why, btw. I said in a Katrina thread at one point that San Francisco (and really all of California) carries a scar from the '06. The city was literally destroyed. We take our relationship with the San Andreas very seriously, because it once bit us badly. For some reason, people in other parts of the country seem to think we all sit around, blatantly ignoring the time bomb we’re sitting on (my parents are the worst at this)-- and as this thread has shown, that’s just not true. We try to be as ready as we can for the Big One, and for the little ones in between.
And most of us, if pushed, will say exactly what Troy said. I’d rather die where I love. I never walk out of my house and mutter, “I hate California.” It was a regular occurance when I was in Jersey.
(Though the NASTY thunderstorm floating overhead right now is working on my last nerve. It’s 2AM. Enough with the 5,000 watt flashing in my window, thankyouverymuch)
Agreed, agreed and agreed. What I strive to do is educate people. Sadly, there are folks who refuse to admit reality. Do I feel sympathy for them? Oh yes. Do I want my tax dollars bailing them out? Um… no. This lady needs to sell her property and move to higher ground. Period. If she’s an adult, she should understand that. Thank goodness I raised my daughters to be sensible and self sustaining. The unfortuate lady in your example evidently wasn’t so lucky. Time for support networks to put the pressure/encouragement on her to move out.
The National Flood Insurance Program is funded entirely by premiums. This new stop-gap meausure in Congress entails MY tax dollars funding someone else’s folly. I can’t and won’t agree with that.
My two cents: create a green zone/state park belt which extends one mile inland from the edge of the water on the Coast.
And finally, a quote from and old friend at MEMA: you never saw high water marks on a teepee. 
I lived in West Hollywood for 12 years - had many earthquake experiences (Northridge was quite a jolt!) and there were the Rodney King riots, and the fires, and the floods - about the only sign of the Apocalypse I had not yet experienced were the locusts.
The only reason I really felt it was time to leave California was the insane rent increases and the skyrocketing price of houses and condos. Add to that the continual worsening of traffic congestion - well, it was time to leave. The natural disasters were nothing in comparison to economic and infrastructure problems.
