Earthquake or Hurricanes?

I read an interesting article from the Ventura County Star website today. It compared the differences between the effect of an earthquake or a hurricane. Based on the fact that Californians have to deal with earthquakes and Floridians have to deal with Hurricanes and the fact that both think that the other is nuts for living where they do given the risk they face o losing all of their belongings if either happens.

In Tokyo there is the risk of both a doomsday earthquake and a typhoon crushing everything I hold dear. So I am going to email the writer of this article to get her views on Tokyo hehe. The article is below.

Pick your poison: quakes or hurricanes
By Colleen Cason, ccason@VenturaCountyStar.com
September 15, 2004

As Californians travel this disaster-prone continent of ours, we often hear: "What? Are you nuts to put up with those earthquakes?"

Floridians, Texans and folks from Louisiana have been known to challenge the IQ of anyone who lives on the unfirm terra of the Golden State. As if none of California's other estimable charms -- our action-hero governor, police pursuits or Paris Hilton -- compensate for our seismic insecurity complex.

Considering this Atlantic hurricane season, a few Floridians may acquire a certain appreciation for Californians' willingness to rock and roll with the punches.

The bright spot, as I write, is that Hurricane Ivan is losing power as it chugs toward landfall Thursday morning on the Gulf Coast. Essentially, the monster storm has gone from an enraged Godzilla to a merely ticked-off King Kong.

Ivan the Terrible could hit New Orleans packing enough juice to turn Bourbon Street into the Sea of Bourbon.

It has been suggested the serial storms that have struck Florida are God's way of sending that state's election officials a message after the 2000 recount: Thou shalt not even think of reviving the butterfly ballot.

In all fairness, both shakers and squalls have pros and cons.

You usually don't lose your landscaping in an earthquake. Unless, of course, your home happens to straddle a fault. And you didn't know that when you bought the place because every major quake seems to occur on a previously undiscovered fault.

There is another advantage to temblors. Engineers have learned how to make buildings quake-proof. So far, nobody can guarantee a home can withstand the pounding of Category 4 or 5 winds.

Some genius suggested building a plastic dome over the entire state of Florida to protect it from storms.

As this suggests, hurricanes can make people just a little crazy. My own mother, a woman of uncommon efficiency and good sense, inexplicably packed a salad spinner when forced to evacuate from her then-home near Pensacola several years ago.

The other morning during Hurricane Frances, one of those Weather Channel correspondents -- you know, those young women who weigh 95 pounds soaking wet -- was out interviewing during the storm's fury.

She was blown horizontally down the sidewalk into a man who unlike her was not getting paid to be out in tempest.

"WHY ARE YOU OUT HERE?" she shouted against the howling wind.

"THE WEATHER WAS MAKING MY DOG CRAZY. HE HAD TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE," the man replied, holding the leash with all his might as his drenched retriever was buffeted about.

OK, here's something else good about earthquakes. You can duck and cover. In a hurricane, if you duck and cover you might not notice when the roof blows off.

The best thing, of course, about hurricanes is you can see them coming. No one can predict an earthquake, despite the claims of Vladimir Keilis-Borok. The Russian scientist recently predicted a powerful shaker in Southern California before Labor Day. The only things rolling were our eyes about his folly.

Because hurricanes can be anticipated people feel like they have more power to save themselves. But do they?

If you evacuate, you become part the moveable road rage on the crowded highways.

If you are lucky enough to find a motel room in some distant locale, you can bet they are not going to honor your AARP discount card.

The real problem with the predictions is they are about as useful as the intelligence that told President Bush that Saddam was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. They might be there somewhere. But Iraq is a big country.

Meteorologists issue warnings that aren't exactly precise. Right now, they predict Ivan will come ashore between New Orleans and the edge of the Florida panhandle -- a 300-mile swath.

Since the predictions are so vague, residents play a crazy-making game of should I stay or should I go?

So if you ask me, the best thing about an earthquake is that you don't get a warning. You take it as it comes.

In all fairness, I just might be living in a fool's paradise. A quake could strike before I finish this column. Or not.

But, this just in. Tropical Storm Jeanne is gathering strength off the coast of Puerto Rico.


-- Hurricane or earthquake? Which do you choose? Tell Colleen Cason at ccason@VenturaCountyStar.com.

Copyright 2004, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.


So like I was saying, Tokyo is a combination of both Florida and Cali. We roll with the quakes and run from the storm surge here in Japan. The risk of a huge doomsday quake here is much higher, see here.

Also, in Japan we have Volcanos. Mt. Asama, 150km west of Tokyo has been erupting the past few days. So not only do we have earthquaes and typhoons, but we also have volcanos. Japan has y'all beat. BOOOYAAHHH!