San Francisco Real Estate - Residential

A word about earthquakes in San Francisco

This is a subject that is long overdue. While we hate to talk about it because it focuses on the negative aspect of living near a fault line, if we ignore it doesn't mean it won't happen again someday.

While we were in Hawaii on the Big Island (our place is in the Waikoloa Beach Resort area), we were hit with a 5.0 earthquake. I should have written this piece then. The quake made a loud crack and then shook for 10-15 seconds while I was in the bedroom putting on my swim suit. It was over before I had a chance to think. Of course, all the neighbors in the complex were out on their lanais, wild eyed, because they were from areas that never have these tremors. For us, it was another day at the office.

The San Francisco Bay Area has become synonymous with earthquakes. We have our share of little ones, but our reputation comes mostly from the great quake of 1906 which destroyed most of the City and the Loma Prieta of 1989 that did major damage to houses in the Marina, collapsed a section of the Bay Bridge and caused the upper deck of the Cypress Viaduct in Oakland to fall.

Yesterday one of my friends from Iowa sent me earthquake survival tips by e-mail which prompted me to finally post this long overdue article. The e-mail was a snippet from Snopes relating Doug Copp's article on the "triangle of life". However, their review was not very complimentary. Regardless, I have posted the link here. Instead, they suggest following the rules found at the Red Cross website. The more information, the better.

- Mick Orton

posted by SFResidence.com @ 7:56 AM