I wonder if "Drop, Cover, and Hold On" really is good advice for liquefaction zones for a very big earthquake.
[1] https://gis.data.ca.gov/datasets/b70a766a60ad4c0688babdd4749...
It’s been so long since we’ve had strong seismic activity in the Bay Area that I’d wager most that have moved here in past two decades (hi!) don’t have all their bookshelves/etc bolted to the wall, breakables secured with quake-hold, shoes under bed, etc… not to mention proper supplies for significant infrastructure damage. I know I caught myself being complacent earlier this year after I reorganized all of our stemware and whisky/etc to a glass cabinet next one of our two exit paths. It would have been an a guaranteed 20-30 lbs of glass shards thoroughly blocking that path. But hey, I’ll admit I have cinema-induced-paranoia about two things: 1) being trapped barefoot with glass covered floors, and 2) potential for velociraptor ingress.
The only people who believe this advice haven't been in an earthquake or government workers who have to justify their existence by coming up with such nonsense, you know, like all the "don't do drugs" messaging and whatever they hand out at the DMV.
The last large quake I experienced was the Northridge quake. I lived very near to the epicenter at the time. It was 4:31 AM. I remember exactly because stayed up all night coding. I felt a strong tug. I immediately thought "this is a big one".
Next image I have in my head was me floating four feet up in the air and all my books up in the air with me (I had bookcases full of books on three walls). The lights went out, we fell to the ground and the powerful shaking started. When it all stopped, books covered the entire floor, it was a mess.
Floating four feet up in the air?
Yes!
The quake had a very strong vertical component. As it pushed up, it compressed the air cylinder right under me (part of the desk chair). That cylinder and the reversal of motion was enough to launch me vertically. My cars were launched into the air and collided with each other...on the driveway. The whole thing was insane.
"Drop, cover and hold on"? Yeah, right.
Don't get me wrong, running around like a maniac isn't smart at all. Keep your wits about you, stand under a doorway or something with decent structural support and assess from there. That is, if you are able to. Sometimes, as was the cased with Northridge, you don't have time for anything. People had entire buildings collapse onto them while in bed.
https://science8sc.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/2/7/132773018/publ...
Anecdote, I was in a small earthquake in Tokyo, the initial thump woke me up and I rolled over under the dining table (sleeping on the floor as a guest) then the bigger vibrations arrived a few seconds later. The building was well designed for earthquakes, but in the moment I figured that, not knowing how big the rest of the earthquake will be, it was probably best to get cover anyway. I think cover is just about increasing the probability by some small amount that you could end up alive under the rubble if the building were to collapse.
It's not like the death of the sun or heat death of universe where it's a billion years outside of your lifetime, it's going to happen in your lifetime.
The "oh well what can you do" response leads me to believe we aren't going to do a damn thing about runaway climate change.
And in Japan there's those old stone marker monuments telling people not to build below them because of tsunamis or floods or something to that effect.
But I mean I guess when it's as desirable property as the SF Bay Area, the fact that you lose the building on it every hundred years or so is a small price to pay?
If you live somewhere with strong earthquakes on a regular basis and enforcable building codes, chances are most of the buildings will withstand a pretty good earthquake, but a really big one will cause trouble.
Areas without regular strong earthquakes are likely to be caught by surprise, although newer buildings are likely to do ok, if they enforce international standard building codes; IBC is good for reasonable earthquakes, but not for extreme earthquakes (earthquake prone areas have additional requirements). Areas without enforcable building codes unfortunately aren't going to be well prepared, it costs more to build buildings that won't fall over in a nearby 4.0, especially if they're taller than one story.
Person is good at planning for abstract problems, because person controls their income, expenses, and priorities.
People are terrible at planning for abstract problems because it's collective resources and collective solutions requiring agreement from multiple parties who, inherently, have different and often conflicting priorities.
In other words, until the planet crashes and kills a vast, vast majority of us, we are going to carry on like we always have. It's depressing.
https://99percentinvisible.org/article/tsunami-stones-ancien...
money money money, MONEY! seems pretty simple to me
When the ground stops moving, then you have a chance at purposeful motion.
It punched above its weight because the epicenter was closer to San Francisco than usual.
Let people have their moments together, they don't need you to approve it
I suppose I should earthquake proof my apartment though, you know those twist tie things that come with some furniture that are meant to be anchored into the wall? I've never used 'em.
At some point with a big one I'll have some shelving and what not fall over. But I've been over a decade here and I haven't needed them yet.
Updated magnitude is 3.7.
