Life In Shaky-Town
Lablogs asks:
1) What sort of earthquake preparations do most people have?
It varies by level of paranoia, ranging from “nothing” to “I’m moving to Kansas tomorrow.” Little known fact, though: Kansas has earthquakes too. Oopsie.
2) Have you ever lived though a big quake?
Yes. And I think phrasing it as “lived through” reveals an element of fear on the part of the questioner.
3) Which ones?
The Northridge Earthquake in 1994. Our house was about four miles from the epicenter. It was quite a ride — I remember being bounced out of bed in complete darkness and stumbling across the heaving floor like a drunk, over to the bedroom doorway where I had to brace myself to keep from being thrown down, and yelling at Beth to get out of bed and come get in the doorway with me where it was safe. She rode it out where she was — nothing gets Beth out of bed, not even a big-ass earthquake.
4) Does anybody really have earthquake insurance?
Yes. That’s why you’ve heard of it.
5) Do you?
Yes, and it was a good thing we did in 1994. We had to make major repairs that we couldn’t have afforded without it.
6) How bad would things have to get for my apartment to come crashing into
the ground?
It depends on the apartment building, but click on the Northridge Earthquake link above for an example. If you’ll recall, an apartment building did come crashing down, killing 16 residents. Maybe you should move to Kansas. Or… maybe not.
7) If I don’t anchor the bookcases to the wall, are they really going to
fall over and kill me in my sleep?
Only if you A) sleep under them and B) store anvils on them.
8) Are you fearful, anticipating, or indifferent to coming quakes?
Indifferent, edging toward anticipating. They’re kind of fun when nobody gets hurt and there’s no significant damage. Dirt surfing, woo hoo!
Two points:
1. We no longer have eq insurance, though we did have it in 1994. Post-Northridge quake, writing these policies became unattractive and the whole thing was taken over by the state. Coverage is now very expensive, very limited as to the scope of coverage, and deductibles are very high.
2. Items stored on bookcases can become projectiles during and earthquake. You may recall that we found CDs from our den in the living room after Northridge. While it’s not critical to attach your bookcases to the wall, frankly, it’s sensible. But, whether or not the bookcases are attached to the wall, unless you’ve attached the books to the bookcase they will be all over the place following a good temblor.
We have earthquake insurance because it is too expensive not to be protected. OTOH, it is really a serious chunk of change.
Been in LA for 35 years and so far I have managed to avoid serious injury in any quake, but I have lost property to them.
But I’ll take them over hurricanes and tornados.
Hi… can’t help but interject… ;)
I’m from kansas. I’ve lived here for 36 years, and have never endured an earthquake, nor have I ever actually seen a tornado, or known anyone whose house has been damaged by a tornado. They hit a localized area (unlike earthquakes!), and the chances are good that you’ll never be one of the unfortunate people who are in the path of the tornado. I guess you take your pick… nearly guaranteed small (?) amounts of damage from an earthquake, or very unlikely very devastating damage from a tornado.