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| Photo by C.E. Meyer, U.S. Geological Survey |
One of the common fears of many visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area (although not seemingly to its residents) is a fear of Earthquakes. This fear is not entirely surprising given the fact that the San Andreas Fault is almost universally known, and of course the fact that two major earthquakes have affected San Francisco - and have been widely recorded. In 1906 the city was almost destroyed by the largest earthquake ever to hit the United States - measuring about 8.3 on the Richter Scale. Then in 1989 the city was once again rocked by an earthquake, this time measuring 7.1. The damage to the city was massively greater in 1906 than 1989 due to a number of factors other than simply being a stronger quake:
Firstly, the epicenter of the 1906 quake was a mere 10 miles from the city on the San Andreas fault. By comparison, in 1989 the epicenter was over 50 miles to the south, just north of Santa Cruz. More significantly the length of the fault that ruptured in 1987 was 25 miles - by comparison in 1906 nearly 300 miles of fault ruptured!! The damage to the city in 1906 was caused not only by the quake itself, but by the fire that followed it - which destroyed vast sections of the city. Finally, although the city in 1989 contained far larger buildings, the damage was largely constrained to older wooden buildings, built on soft ground that liquefied, and to freeway structures - notably the 'Cypress Structure' (part of I-880) in Oakland and Embarcadero Freeway, Highway 101 in San Francisco. In addition modern building codes in California demand that buildings are capable of withstanding significant seismic disturbances.
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So, if earthquakes are so destructive to San Francisco, why isn't everyone leaving? Well as with most things, we tend to get used to the surroundings we live in, and come to accept their short-comings, regardless of the danger. Most San Franciscan's simply don't think about earthquakes at all - obviously they are well aware of their potential impact - but the incidence of much smaller earthquakes is frequent enough for their occurrence to cause a few raised eyebrows, and not a lot else!
In all the times I have visited the Bay Area (and having worked for an Alameda-based company for the past 5 years it has been a few) I have only experienced one earthquake - a 3.5 that barely registered - in fact I missed it completely! Only the 'seasoned veterans' who happened to be sitting down at the time noticed anything at all!
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| Photo by J.K. Nakata, U.S. Geological Survey |
So, if you're planning a trip to the Bay Area and are worried about earthquakes, don't be! There have only been two huge earthquakes in the region in the last 100 years, and although the probabilities state that the likelihood of another one of magnitude of 6.7 or higher by 2030 is 70%, you don't believe the probabilities when you buy a lottery ticket, or play Roulette at Bellagio do you? Bottom line, if you don't go to San Francisco you're going to miss out on a fantastic trip, and if you do, you're really not going to get caught in the next big one! (honest!)1
Still worried? Well take a look at the fantastic US Geological Survey website which tracks earthquakes in the San Francisco area and you'll see that mini-quakes are happening all the time. This is good news because each time a fault slips a small amount it releases pressure - and it's the build up of pressure that ultimately will cause the next big one! Finally, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a full guide on what to do if you get caught up in an earthquake. So now there's no excuse, you know the risks, and you now know what to do!
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