April 16, 2008
Earthquake Shmerthquake
The Chron gave big play to a report some scientists issued that said that after doing some exhaustive research, there is a 99% chance a big-ass earthquake will hit California sometime in the next 30 years. We hate these kind of stories because it feels like there’s a similar story about an earthquake every other month and while this one is a bit more serious than the usual hedging report ("there is a 75% chance that there will be a 50% chance that an Earthquake will happen sometime this century") we don't understand why these stories get such a big play. We know, we know, we know...we get it: at some point in our lives, probably when we're on the toilet, a big, nasty earthquake is going to hit and San Francisco is going to fall into the ocean and after that we'll still be unable to find a decent 1br apartment for under $1500.
But what precisely is the point of all of these stories? Other than buying an earthquake preparedness kit, what else is there we can do? If we, say, were 500 pounds, had a cholesterol reading of over 300 and were chain smokers and a doctor told us that there was a pretty darn good chance we would get heart disease, we could at least cut down from two packs of cigarettes a day to a pack. But if one fault decides they've had it with another fault and they go at it, what the hell can we do about it?
It could also be said that the constant hyping of these stories could actually backfire. There is only so many times that one hears that the end is nigh before they stop listening to those cries. The Big One might not be that big, after all, if all those melting glaciers put us twenty feet under water. And aren't all those Jihadist's still out there looking to drop some WMDs on us? And whatever happened to the Avian Flu? Or what could happen if all those Miley Cyrus fans come of age to vote. There’s only so many things we can be scared sh-- less about.
In other words, call us when they figure out exactly when the damn thing happens.
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ROck on. My grandma who would now be 130 years old had to hear these same Nostradamus predictions all her life. It made her fearful, depresses, anxious and unable to live her life to the fullest. The Media gets a kick out of scaring us or is the people who sell the preparedness kits trying to make a buck.
Only the Almighty knows for sure when a Big one will
strike. Scientists have never been right about anything!
what about AIDS???
It might not seem important right now but all you slick BMW drivers and trendy player's who have nothing in your pantries are all shit outta luck when the big one hits. I'm going to be the big man in this town when all the Marina babes decide that bottled water and spam sammiches are suddenly fashionable. Baby gotta eat yo!
GO through the NERT training - you'll feel better, or at least better prepared. www.sfgov.org/sffdnert
The Annual NERT City-wide drill happens this Saturday ... so if you see a bunch of folks around Church and 17th street in orange vests and wearing hard hats, that's what's going on ...
I've got my camp stove, lantern, flashlights, battery operated radios and manual can opener and they're just gathering dust.
All this talk about a big one...sometime...makes me think it's just a ploy to get us to buy earthquake insurance. But that's just me, any time some "study" comes out I always wonder who is profiting from it. Because someone always is.
Members of my extended family won't come to California because they're afraid of earthquakes.
Thank God for earthquakes.
best thing i have heard about preparing yourself, recently on kcbs radio talk was to:
-CARRY A WHISTLE-
with you at all times. sounds silly but it makes
total sense if you are caught under anything you'll get tired of screaming but can always use that whistle. I have one on my keychain.
Let me say that I have a problem with these earthquake preparedness kits. How can all of the things they say you need possibly fit in a "kit." If I went out and got everything everyone suggested, I would need one large suitcase. Do you think I have room for that? No. I'll die being a mooch, thank you.
I just hope I'm stuck at my boyfriend's place. He lives above a bar, so we'll have plenty of booze, which is really all you need, right?
What I loved is a recommendation that you keep one gallon of water per person/pet, per day, stored somewhere in your teeny, tiny SF apartment.
I can barely find room for shoes, and I'm supposed to store a small pond's worth of water in there, too?
My earthquake preparedness kit is a good old-fashioned handgun so I can take other people's earthquake preparedness kit (which hopefully won't be handguns either).
Yep a small pond's worth of water that with time may crack and flood your teeny, tiny apartment. I've been trying to figure out a good way to do this since I moved here.
Actually water is the one thing you should have. You can go a couple of days without food, but you need water.
The city's website, http://www.72hours.org/build_kit.html, recommends a lot of stupid crap (staple gun? bungee cords? plastic sheeting? wtf?).
But stick a gallon of water under the sink. No one in New Orleans died for lack of a bungee cord, but plenty of people died for lack of water.
Lessons learned from living through the Loma Prieta Earthquake in the Haight:
Have cat food; kitty is not amused by your little emergency.
We had water, we even had working gas to the kitchen stove, and we had a pound of Peet's whole coffee beans....but no electricity. Wrapping whole beans in a towel and whacking with a hammer doesn't work.
A cheap $5 dollar transistor radio from Radio Shack will become your most important high tech gadget, if you have batteries.
That wasn't an earthquake.....
It's ' Godzilla ' !!!!!!!!