Next Tuesday, April 18th, is the one-hundred year anniversary of the great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.Long described as magnitude 8.3 on the Richter scale, the earthquake and subsequent fires are believed to have killed at least 3,000 people. Though the city placed the official number at 478 killed,
a deliberate effort was made to gloss over the impact of the disaster. Everyone with an investment in the city -- from Army brass and insurance executives to Southern Pacific Railroad tycoons and civic boosters -- minimized the damage and the continued threat of danger.
Today researchers estimate that if the same earthquake had hit San Francisco today, there would be several thousand dead, several hundred thousand homeless, and more than $100 billion in damage.
Living along the California coast means living in earthquake country.
I have witnessed several large earthquakes, most notably the 1994 Northridge earthquake, measured at 6.7 magnitude, which killed fifty-one people and caused an estimated $20 billion in property damage.
Other fatal California earthquakes in my lifetime include the 1971 Sylmar earthquake (sixty-five deaths), which I was too young to remember, the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake (eight deaths), which I missed by virtue of being in the San Francisco Bay area for college, and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake south of San Francisco (at least sixty-three deaths), which I missed by being overseas for study abroad.
The Northridge earthquake happened at 4:30 in the morning. I remember a deep rumbling sound as I awoke, and the bedroom shaking back and forth wildly. I had been in many smaller earthquakes, but I remember thinking that the Big One had come, expecting the house to collapse, and wondering if I was about to die.
Our house survived the earthquake with just a few cracks. Other people were not so lucky. I was working for my father three days a week at the time. We left home at about 5:30, but as we saw a number of collapses structures and carports, we decided to return home in case there should be unexpected trouble.
Last year, I went to Baton Rouge and New Orleans a few days after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast. After witnessing the government's failure to provide supplies and medical treatment for those who could not evacuate, it really hit home how precarious our situation is in Los Angeles, with almost ten million people in Los Angeles County. If a catastrophic earthquake were to hit, presumably with no warning, millions could be without water or electricity, with most major roadways shut down. The civil disturbances that might result could easily dwarf what we saw in New Orleans last September.
In the meantime, my wife and I have put together earthquake supply kits for our home and our cars, including water, food, first aid, and emergency cash. We have to assume that our local and federal officials will not be able to do much to help us. There are numerous handbooks online for preparing for the next big earthquake, including this one.
I whole-heartedly agree with cartoonist Ted Rall's outlook on natural disaster zones in this country.
