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[karaz]

There have been a lot of Tornado sightings around here lately, which is a bit unusual for the Mid-Atlantic region (and pisses me off because we don't have a basement). Yesterday some local radio personalities were talking about which natural disasters they've experienced and are most afraid of experiencing. They settled on being snowed-in as the

Comments

[mizbean]

I was in Japan when an earthquake hit. It wasn't HUGE, but it was big enough that there were a few fatalities near the epicenter. Anyway, I had never experienced an earthquake before and it freaked me the hell out. The couple we were visiting were like -- this happens all the time. No biggie.

Do Not Want.

Snow. Pffft.

[karaz]

Earthquakes are so rare around where I live and where I grew up. I can't really imagine an awful one, but I think the reason they really bother me is that there is no warning, no real shelter to take. I don't know how Californians deal.

[mizbean]

That's just it. We were sound asleep in our Toyko hotel room, and it woke us both up. (It wasn't the building shaking that woke us; it was the noise of the building creaking. That what was so scary.) But both of us barely had the wherewith all to jump out of bed by the time the quake ended, and even so there would have been no way to get out of the building if it were to collapse.

There's a fault line in southern Illinois that some have speculated could cause a major earthquake, but even so I quite happy being in Chicago. Outside from the occasional bad storm, we're pretty disaster-free.

[karaz]

That's one good thing about the great lake region. Fairly disaster free. ;)

[pir8fancier]

Earthquakes are NOT predictable and therefore, IMO, are the most dangerous. There are models that predict all natural disasters, except earthquakes. You can say, well, this fault had an earthquake in 1850, and in 1890, and in 1930, and in 1970. There's a damn good chance it's going to break in 2010! But there aren't any guarantees. And you can have a mid-level earthquake (the Northridge earthquake was considered mid-level and the loss was in the billions), but it's a THRUST fault earthquake (as opposed to slip/slide) and it's shallow. The earthquake in China was big and shallow, hence why it flattened Sichan. So, earthquakes get my vote. And I'm 30 minutes from the San Andreas fault and I'm 15 minutes from the Hayward fault. But I live in California.

[karaz]

I figured you'd pick earthquakes. I hadn't really thought about the difference in types earthquakes (somewhere my old geology professor is headdesking).

[spiralstairs]

Are they serious? Being snowed in isn't terrifying. It's a nuisance. XD I've lived through countless blizzards and nor'easters and all it means is no take-out and lots of shoveling when the storm is over.

Volcanoes are pretty scary, but since there isn't a load of them that go off every season with ash and fire and lava, it's not quite so scary.

I just moved out to California and just in time for this. This is the fire that was burning close to me. I was coming up the 5 and saw a massive dark cloud over the highway, looked to the right and saw lots of orange and flickering flames. There was massive winds as well and since I knew the canyon close to me got fires all the time, I packed up the essentials and nostalgic stuff and high-tailed it to Santa Barbara. Except the fire never got even close to where I live so I got to enjoy a nice holiday in Santa Barbara. It was still pretty frightening to see the sky change from blue to smokey orange and the massive winds move the smell of burning plants to your window. Otherwise, it was a hell

[karaz]

Yes, they were serious. Something about being cold is worse than being hot.

I think I joined your flist right about then. I remember those posts and was thinking of you whenever they showed film of it on the news.

[spiralstairs]

If it's cold and you're unprepared, then that totally blows and it's very unpleasant. Otherwise, it's just a total pain in the tuckus. Lol

Aw, bless yer heart. :) Turns out my area was totally fine, but it scared the dickens out of me anyway. *hug*

[karaz]

IDK, I think fear of earthquakes is pretty rational. My picks are all the ones that you can't prepare for or take cover from. How do you hide from a Tsunami/Tornado/Earthqake? there's not much you can do but pray.

[augustuscaesar]

I'd possibly be more scared of earthquakes if I lived somewhere like the San Andreas Fault, rather than here, where the average tremor is probably a 3 on the scale :D

As for bushfires, I haven't been right in the middle of the flames, but they come close enough for it to count.