There are constantly earthquakes in California. Under the feet of Californians. And Hollywood.
But what secured my attention in this article was the statement by Anthony Guarino, a seismologist at Caltech. The LA TIMES reports on the obvious, but yet eye opening nonetheless:
The region remains overdue for a massive quake. The southern section of the San Andreas Fault, which starts near the Salton Sea and runs north to Palmdale, has historically caused a large earthquake every 150 years on average. It has not ruptured since 1680.
“There is a very high probability that it will rupture in our lifetime or our children’s lifetime,” Guarino said.
“We use these small quakes as a reminder: You need to be prepared with a week’s worth of food and water and have a plan of action,” he said. “Don’t run outside, don’t get in the doorway. Drop, cover and hold on to something.”
There are so many things we are never prepared for.
The grid going down..
The New Madrid shaking..
Yellowstone blowing..
2 inches of snow in Atlanta..
And the prospects that one day, during our lifetime or that of our kids, the Hollywood sign may fall down a mountain due to a seismic shift, is pretty downright scary.
There’s little we can do to prepare for such an event when we have built our lives, and nuclear plants, on the fault lines of the planet.
It’s just bound to occur.
We hope not during our lifetimes.. But by hoping that, we curse our children to have to deal with the catastrophic nightmare themselves…
Hollywood earthquake is third in 10 days
