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Could the United States Handle an earthquake

wxcrazytwo said:
No, it cannot. The way they hadled Katrina shows that.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9351829/
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So your going to compare a relatively common occurence to something that has never happened anywhere else in the world ever. Least that I know of. You think this comparison is really fair or at best lucent? Would seem to me that last big quake in SF was handled rather well and there was significant damage. To compare apple to apples have a earthquake.. and then it can't stop quaking for 6 months. Then you get to compare the to semi eaqually.
 
Calm2Chaos said:
So your going to compare a relatively common occurence to something that has never happened anywhere else in the world ever. Least that I know of. You think this comparison is really fair or at best lucent? Would seem to me that last big quake in SF was handled rather well and there was significant damage. To compare apple to apples have a earthquake.. and then it can't stop quaking for 6 months. Then you get to compare the to semi eaqually.
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Dude, the United States cannot handle catastrophic events such ash a KATRINA, which they knew was coming. How the heck do you expect them to handle an event that no one knows is coming. Which quake are you referring to in S.F? I know that the 1906 quake was not handled well, as there were wide spreading looting, rape, etc. Just believe it, we cannot do it.
 
wxcrazytwo said:
Dude, the United States cannot handle catastrophic events such ash a KATRINA, which they knew was coming. How the heck do you expect them to handle an event that no one knows is coming. Which quake are you referring to in S.F? I know that the 1906 quake was not handled well, as there were wide spreading looting, rape, etc. Just believe it, we cannot do it.
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How about the 89 quake... Least I think It was 89.. Collapsed buildings, collapsed highwatys. Fires everywhere.. That one

We handled Katrina fine as can be expected. We handled it better then any other nation on earth would have been capable of. And we would handle an earthquake fine also. It won't be perfect and there wil be mistakes. But the country will do whatever it takes to get through it.


Hey look... WE HANDLED IT

Imagine that. see what we are capable of doing


October 17, 1989
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Bay Area just before the third game of the World Series at Candlestick Park; the worst earthquake since 1906. The tremor collapsed a section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Six of the deaths occurred when the exterior of a brick building collapsed at 6th and Bluxome streets in the South of Market District. Damage was estimated at almost three billion dollars in San Francisco, which was approximately one-half of the total damage figure for the entire earthquake zone.

The earthquake knocked out power to San Francisco, and the city was dark for the first time since the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. Power was fully restored by October 20. Emergency telephone service became sporadic because a fire broke out in the 9-1-1 telephone equipment room, and citizens had to rely on fire alarm boxes for three days for emergency protection from fire. The quake killed 62 people throughout Central California, injured 3757 and left more than 12,000 homeless.

At least 27 fires broke out across the City, including a major blaze in the Marina District where apartment buildings sank into a lagoon filled with bay mud in preparation for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915. Dozens of people were rescued by firefighters from fallen buildings in the area that were imperiled by the flames. As they had done in 1906, citizens formed a bucket brigade to help firefighters who were without water because of broken mains. A magnitude 5.2 aftershock struck 37 minutes after the initial shock.

Interstate 280 rocked so viciously during the earthquake that sections of the freeway slammed into one another, cracking off pieces. Some columns actually fractured, exposing the reinforcing steel in places where the concrete disintegrated. The Embarcadero Freeway along the Waterfront was nearly destroyed by the shaking, though Caltrans said it could be repaired.

The earthquake triggered a four-foot tsunami wave in Monterey Bay as well as a huge undersea landslide. The sea level at Santa Cruz dropped three feet as water rushed out of the harbor. The tsunami wave took 20 minutes to travel from Santa Cruz to Monterey.
 
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wxcrazytwo said:
Dude, the United States cannot handle catastrophic events such ash a KATRINA, which they knew was coming. How the heck do you expect them to handle an event that no one knows is coming. Which quake are you referring to in S.F? I know that the 1906 quake was not handled well, as there were wide spreading looting, rape, etc. Just believe it, we cannot do it.
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Seriously, that was 100 years ago. As someone who used to live in SF, I can assure you they are quite prepared for earthquakes.
 
Calm2Chaos said:
How about the 89 quake... Least I think It was 89.. Collapsed buildings, collapsed highwatys. Fires everywhere.. That one

We handled Katrina fine as can be expected. We handled it better then any other nation on earth would have been capable of. And we would handle an earthquake fine also. It won't be perfect and there wil be mistakes. But the country will do whatever it takes to get through it.
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Homey, the 89 quake, which I was unfortunately in, was nothing compared to Katrina. The boxing day tsunami was one of the most devastating in the world. However, I believe there was xero looting or crime. If you can find anything criminally regarding the boxing day tsunami, please let me know. Otherwise, you haven't the slightest clue. We look strong externally, but internally, we are hemorraghing pretty bad...
 
Kelzie said:
Seriously, that was 100 years ago. As someone who used to live in SF, I can assure you they are quite prepared for earthquakes.
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Keep thinking that. I have a buddy of 27 years who lives in S.F., and he has told me that they are not quite prepared for the big one. Even if it was 100 years ago, we establish procedures based on precedence and past experiences. Oh, I forgot the U.S. never learns from past experiences.. Sorry my bad...
 
wxcrazytwo said:
Homey, the 89 quake, which I was unfortunately in, was nothing compared to Katrina. The boxing day tsunami was one of the most devastating in the world. However, I believe there was xero looting or crime. If you can find anything criminally regarding the boxing day tsunami, please let me know. Otherwise, you haven't the slightest clue. We look strong externally, but internally, we are hemorraghing pretty bad...
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Thats friggin brilliant.

There has to be something worth looting to have looters. And after the Tsunami homey were did the water go...HMMMMMMM I wonder... Nothing like this has ever happened and it was handled exceptionaly well. Yes there were mistakes but when your dealing with a one off thats going to happen.
The 89 quake was the strongest since 06 .. Are you kidding me. It was a disaster area. And since you weren't alive in 06 it's tough to compare.
Your right that katrina was worse. It was worse because it was a flood that didn't recede.
 
wxcrazytwo said:
Homey, the 89 quake, which I was unfortunately in, was nothing compared to Katrina. The boxing day tsunami was one of the most devastating in the world. However, I believe there was xero looting or crime. If you can find anything criminally regarding the boxing day tsunami, please let me know. Otherwise, you haven't the slightest clue. We look strong externally, but internally, we are hemorraghing pretty bad...
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Nothing compared to Katrina? Maybe cause one's a hurricane and one's an EARTHQUAKE?

Again, tsunami and hurricane. You can't compare responses to different natural disastors and expect them to be the same. Since the very nature of the disastor is different, obviously how people respond is going to be different too. You wouldn't see many people looting in a massive fire would you? No? Maybe because everything's on fire! Same thing with a tsunami. Everything below a certain point is gone. Everything above is fine. It is very different from a hurricane.
 
wxcrazytwo said:
Keep thinking that. I have a buddy of 27 years who lives in S.F., and he has told me that they are not quite prepared for the big one. Even if it was 100 years ago, we establish procedures based on precedence and past experiences. Oh, I forgot the U.S. never learns from past experiences.. Sorry my bad...
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How the hell do we survive kitchen fires as a country if we are this fuked up? So whats the plan, What do we do to be so prepared nothing goes wrong or nobody dies?
 
wxcrazytwo said:
Keep thinking that. I have a buddy of 27 years who lives in S.F., and he has told me that they are not quite prepared for the big one. Even if it was 100 years ago, we establish procedures based on precedence and past experiences. Oh, I forgot the U.S. never learns from past experiences.. Sorry my bad...
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I will keep thinking it. So will the millions of people who live in that area. Are you saying we haven't changed our procedures in earthquakes for 100 years? Get real.
 
Kelzie said:
Nothing compared to Katrina? Maybe cause one's a hurricane and one's an EARTHQUAKE?

Again, tsunami and hurricane. You can't compare responses to different natural disastors and expect them to be the same. Since the very nature of the disastor is different, obviously how people respond is going to be different too. You wouldn't see many people looting in a massive fire would you? No? Maybe because everything's on fire! Same thing with a tsunami. Everything below a certain point is gone. Everything above is fine. It is very different from a hurricane.
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That part never actually dawned on me.. In a tsunami theres nothing really left to loot.......It all gets swept out to sea
 
Calm2Chaos said:
How the hell do we survive kitchen fires as a country if we are this fuked up? So whats the plan, What do we do to be so prepared nothing goes wrong or nobody dies?
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cut the red tape and allow the emergency supplies and aid to flow. People are unfortunately going to die, that is reality. We can have better implementation of emergency plans in place and workable...
 
Kelzie said:
I will keep thinking it. So will the millions of people who live in that area. Are you saying we haven't changed our procedures in earthquakes for 100 years? Get real.
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very little I'd say...Tech wise, drastic improvements..
 
wxcrazytwo said:
very little I'd say...Tech wise, drastic improvements..
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If the technology has improved, how could the procedure not? We have ambulances now. Do you think CA's procedures during an earthquake ignore that fact because we didn't have them 100 years ago?
 
Kelzie said:
If the technology has improved, how could the procedure not? We have ambulances now. Do you think CA's procedures during an earthquake ignore that fact because we didn't have them 100 years ago?
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CA'S quake procedures have improved, but the problem is implementing them. We seem to have a problem in implementing plans that are sound. Actually, I believe CA is on par with everything regarding quakes, but I think that when the reall one occurrs, they will be left with their hands in the pants...
 
wxcrazytwo said:
cut the red tape and allow the emergency supplies and aid to flow. People are unfortunately going to die, that is reality. We can have better implementation of emergency plans in place and workable...
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So it should be a bunch of people just running into a disaster zone. No instruction, no location. JUst cut the tape and run your little ass off in to the devestated area. The red tape is in part designed to make sure none of the people going in get hurt. Again it won't be perfect but it will be handled as was the 89 quake. We handle natural disasters in my opinion better then any other nation in the world.
 
wxcrazytwo said:
very little I'd say...Tech wise, drastic improvements..
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USGS says different
 
wxcrazytwo said:
CA'S quake procedures have improved, but the problem is implementing them. We seem to have a problem in implementing plans that are sound. Actually, I believe CA is on par with everything regarding quakes, but I think that when the reall one occurrs, they will be left with their hands in the pants...
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So basically what you're saying is that, even though CA has handled recent large earthquakes very well, they still have a problem implementing procedure, because possible, just maybe, in the distant future, we might have the mother of all earthquakes that they MIGHT not be prepared for? Even though we've done well since 1906 of course...
 
I say we forget about earthquakes and worry about Yellow Stone Park blowing the hell up. Now that's some scary stuff, It'd make Katrina, September 11th and Vietnam look like a bug bite.
 
Arch Enemy said:
I say we forget about earthquakes and worry about Yellow Stone Park blowing the hell up. Now that's some scary stuff, It'd make Katrina, September 11th and Vietnam look like a bug bite.
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What in the world are you talking about? :lol:
 
Arch Enemy said:
I say we forget about earthquakes and worry about Yellow Stone Park blowing the hell up. Now that's some scary stuff, It'd make Katrina, September 11th and Vietnam look like a bug bite.
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True. From what I saw that would be a country killer there with the amount of ash and crap t would push out
 
Your looking at a volcano that has a mount some 40 miles across I think
 
Kelzie said:
So basically what you're saying is that, even though CA has handled recent large earthquakes very well, they still have a problem implementing procedure, because possible, just maybe, in the distant future, we might have the mother of all earthquakes that they MIGHT not be prepared for? Even though we've done well since 1906 of course...
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Yes. I think the procedures in place are not adequate to handle the mother of all quakes, as for that matter is anyone prepared?? I am out going home I will respond tomorrow..Maybe tonight, but doubt it, too much homework..
 
wxcrazytwo said:
Yes. I think the procedures in place are not adequate to handle the mother of all quakes, as for that matter is anyone prepared?? I am out going home I will respond tomorrow..Maybe tonight, but doubt it, too much homework..
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The scenario you paint makes it impossible for anyone to handle an earthquake. We would handle it better faster and more efficiently then any other nation out there. Just like we do with everything else. Few bumps in the road but the whole train doesn't come off the tracks
 
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