4 ms·

This is a silly question but as someone who lives in a place that will never experience an earthquake can someone explain to me why they are so dangerous? I get

This is a silly question but as someone who lives in a place that will never experience an earthquake can someone explain to me why they are so dangerous? I get that things can fall over/collapse but in areas such as CA aren't buildings structured to survive an earthquake? Don't you secure large objects (cabinets etc.) to the walls?

genbit 12y ago
Just wondering, what is this place?
- k-mcgrady 12y ago
  Ireland.
  - genbit 12y ago
    this can be interesting: http://earthquaketrack.com/p/ireland/recent http://earthquaketrack.com/p/ireland/recent I myself leaved in place, where I thought never can have earthquake, but at some point was woke up but 1.5 magnitude. I think almost every place on Earth can have earthquake at some point.
    - arnorhs 12y ago
      You would be the first person in the history of mankind to wake up to a 1.5 magnitude earthquake :) I believe up to 2.0 they are not felt by humans, only recorded by seismographs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale
      - genbit 12y ago
        Thanks, didn't know ) Don't remember magnitude exactly, long time ago. Just was trying to say that it was low
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    - k-mcgrady 12y ago
      I should clarify. Every few years there are reports of an earthquake somewhere in Ireland but it's always such a minor quake (usually less than 2.0) that nobody notices.
ghshephard 12y ago
You can go 10+ years without a big earth quake in CA, so people get lazy, stop strapping their hot water tanks to walls, stop nailing bookshelves against walls, etc... Also - not all buildings are earthquake proof - only modern ones. Older ones can still fall down fairly easily. Finally - when push comes to shove (pun intended), a 6.0+ is just going to do a lot of damage regardless of your precautions - particularly around store shelves, roads, etc...
- k-mcgrady 12y ago
  Good points, thanks.
- itazula 12y ago
  It helped that my TV included a little kit (containing cords, brackets, and screws) and instructions for securing it. It felt like just another step in the physical setup of the TV, not something I had to do "eventually."
- rtpg 12y ago
  A Magnitude 6 earthquake hit during golden week this year in downtown Tokyo, last I checked there was a couple of injuries but that's it. Granted a lot of infrastructure is equipped for this (gas was shut off in my apartment for example), but it's possible to be prepared for this.
  - pauldino 12y ago
    I totally agree it's possible to be prepared, but if you're talking about the earthquake I'm thinking about from May - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/global/shake/b000q9sv/ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/global/shake... - I don't think it's a great example, since the epicenter was pretty far from central Tokyo and also quite deep (153km) so at the surface it wasn't particularly strong. Apart from being centered very close to Napa this earthquake was also fairly shallow (10km) so it was significantly more intense (albeit in a small, not heavily populated area) even though it was of the same magnitude. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/nc/shake/72282711/ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/nc/shake/722... (I say that based on the numbers, not having first-hand experience with either quake)
jedberg 12y ago
In this case, a picture is worth a 1000 words: http://imgur.com/Sunh0Iy http://imgur.com/Sunh0Iy That was from Napa this morning. Imagine if someone were standing under that? Now multiply by tens of thousands of homes and businesses. The buildings themselves are designed to survive, but many are old and not up to code, because you only have to make a building earthquake safe when you sell it or renovate it. Also, many people do not secure large objects to the wall. And sometimes it is the small objects that are the problem. Wine bottles, mirrors, anything that can shatter and fling glass everywhere.

genbit 12y ago

Just wondering, what is this place?

k-mcgrady 12y ago
Ireland.
- genbit 12y ago
  this can be interesting: http://earthquaketrack.com/p/ireland/recent http://earthquaketrack.com/p/ireland/recent I myself leaved in place, where I thought never can have earthquake, but at some point was woke up but 1.5 magnitude. I think almost every place on Earth can have earthquake at some point.
  - arnorhs 12y ago
    You would be the first person in the history of mankind to wake up to a 1.5 magnitude earthquake :) I believe up to 2.0 they are not felt by humans, only recorded by seismographs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale
    - genbit 12y ago
      Thanks, didn't know ) Don't remember magnitude exactly, long time ago. Just was trying to say that it was low
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - k-mcgrady 12y ago
    I should clarify. Every few years there are reports of an earthquake somewhere in Ireland but it's always such a minor quake (usually less than 2.0) that nobody notices.

ghshephard 12y ago

You can go 10+ years without a big earth quake in CA, so people get lazy, stop strapping their hot water tanks to walls, stop nailing bookshelves against walls, etc... Also - not all buildings are earthquake proof - only modern ones. Older ones can still fall down fairly easily. Finally - when push comes to shove (pun intended), a 6.0+ is just going to do a lot of damage regardless of your precautions - particularly around store shelves, roads, etc...

k-mcgrady 12y ago
Good points, thanks.
itazula 12y ago
It helped that my TV included a little kit (containing cords, brackets, and screws) and instructions for securing it. It felt like just another step in the physical setup of the TV, not something I had to do "eventually."
rtpg 12y ago
A Magnitude 6 earthquake hit during golden week this year in downtown Tokyo, last I checked there was a couple of injuries but that's it. Granted a lot of infrastructure is equipped for this (gas was shut off in my apartment for example), but it's possible to be prepared for this.
- pauldino 12y ago
  I totally agree it's possible to be prepared, but if you're talking about the earthquake I'm thinking about from May - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/global/shake/b000q9sv/ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/global/shake... - I don't think it's a great example, since the epicenter was pretty far from central Tokyo and also quite deep (153km) so at the surface it wasn't particularly strong. Apart from being centered very close to Napa this earthquake was also fairly shallow (10km) so it was significantly more intense (albeit in a small, not heavily populated area) even though it was of the same magnitude. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/nc/shake/72282711/ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/nc/shake/722... (I say that based on the numbers, not having first-hand experience with either quake)

jedberg 12y ago

In this case, a picture is worth a 1000 words: http://imgur.com/Sunh0Iy http://imgur.com/Sunh0Iy That was from Napa this morning. Imagine if someone were standing under that? Now multiply by tens of thousands of homes and businesses. The buildings themselves are designed to survive, but many are old and not up to code, because you only have to make a building earthquake safe when you sell it or renovate it. Also, many people do not secure large objects to the wall. And sometimes it is the small objects that are the problem. Wine bottles, mirrors, anything that can shatter and fling glass everywhere.