Are You Ready for The Next Big One?

After all these catastrophes and natural disasters that occurred in the world during the last years, I kind of wondered: how prepared are we for the next big hit? What are the governments doing to avoid, or at least, prevent the damages?

I have friends who live in California, U.S.A., so I eventually thought about the earthquakes and San Andreas Fault.  Doing some Research about it, I was astonished to realize how people deal with the possibility of these disasters.  Some internet forums have comments like “…earthquakes are fun to me, most times I’m in bed and it's like a vibrating massage (lol) I don't worry about it”, or “I don't think it's really that big a deal to most of us in LA, at least not something we worry about everyday.”  First of all, please, understand; I am not trying to cause panic or preaching that a powerful earthquake is going to destroy the state anytime soon, but the USGS itself predicted: “California has more than a 99% chance of having a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake within the next 30 years, according to scientists using a new model to determine the probability of big quakes”; so I decided to look for clues of what is going to look like when it finally happens.

First, I’ve found a video of a computer generated simulation of the impacted are on the internet, so I would have an idea of the area hit by it.  Then, logically, I wanted to know what the preventive measures were.

As NPR’s John McChesney said back in 2005, “Since earthquakes can't be predicted, the only effective antidote is to shore up buildings and infrastructure for the inevitable, but the extraordinary expense isn't politically attractive.  The Bush administration cut FEMA's (Federal Emergency Management Agency) pre-disaster mitigation budget in half in 2005, and Congress then appropriated less than that, only $100 million.  To put those numbers in context, it will cost $840 million just to retrofit San Francisco's General Hospital.”

Weeks before the Hurricane Irene strikes Washington D.C and New York in 2011, the agency’s disaster relief fund dropped below $1 billion—to $792 million—nearly the lowest the fund has ever been only eight months into the year.

However, after the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake that destroyed most of the city in 60 seconds of magnitude 7.9, a repeat of it is estimated to cause ruptures in four segments of the San Andreas Fault and result in around $54 billion in building damage.

California’s GDP is nearly U$ 2 trillion, representing over 13% of the national GDP.  Many companies’ headquarters are located there and, it is by far, the most populous state of the country.  They are responsible for roughly 1 out of 15 workers in the U.S.A. and over 70% of the country’s educators.  I think that, pretty much, says it all.

For the record, though, just 12% of homes with fire insurance also have earthquake coverage, according to the California Earthquake Authority.  Should people be more concerned about it? I got all this information in one morning of curiosity; what is going to be the excuse for being caught short-handed when it finally happens?