The TV in the lunch room is playing a story about tornadoes currently hitting the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas.

I've had people tell me they'd rather live there than here in California, because there are warning signs for tornadoes and there aren't for earthquakes.

But, things like tornadoes & hurricanes hit just about every year. I could not imagine trying to recover from these things on a regular basis.

I live in Tornado alley and it's rare that you get completely trashed from a Tornado. At least with a Tornado you can get under ground or in a safe place (though I'm sure in Cali most homes are quake safe)...

Hurricane or an Earthquake... I'd have to have a helicopter at the ready at all times...

I"ll take my Tornadoes any day of the week. 

The people I pity are the ones that live in places like Florida or off the Golf coast... Those people just get slammed each year with some serious amounts of wind and water and no matter what they do you always see images on the news of people's homes just completely washed away. They just keep rebuilding telling themselves 'oh this time I'll make it Hurricane proof'.

"Tornado alley" does seem to describe a large swath of land. And, yeah, Florida is not high on my list of places to live. The do seem to get the stuffing knocking out of them year after year.

I've been though all three. 

Earthquakes you hear coming, but you are at their mercy.

Tornadoes, you "sometimes" get warnings, often too late to help, but all you can do is wait.

Hurricanes you usually have time to board your windows up and move out.

But all of them you are at natures mercy.

0.0  If any of those things happened in the UK I'd be in France before you could say Bonjour.

By that I mean any on the scale you guys have, I know we get the odd barely there Tornado and Earthquake.

I'm actually so homesick for Calif. that I miss the earthquakes    You'll never see me taking up residence anywhere even remotely near to tornado country though

I live in a 6-10 Tornadoes per year per 1000 sq mile region on this map...

I have to admit I've always been thoroughly fascinated by the destructive power of this planet. Such events, to me anyway, serve as a reminder of how insignificant we as a species really are in the grand scheme of things; the pinnacles of our technology wiped away in the blink of an eye by something so... raw and primal. They have a way of putting everything into perspective. As destructive as they can be, they have a certain violent majesty about them. Look at an image of a hurricane from space, it looks almost beautiful.

Images of hurricanes taken from orbit are awe-inspiring, to say the least. And tsunamis display a power that, to me, is utterly mind-boggling.

I think we're pretty safe in DC. Oh wait, the terrorists! 

It's been a good 3 or 4 years since we had a hurricane hit here and I'm right next door to where the eye of Katrina hit.  The last hurricane within the area just barely grazed us and the worst we got was a bit of wind that knocked everything over.

We keep getting tornadoes, though.  It's kind of crazy. 

I'd take tornadoes and hurricanes over earthquakes and I've been through all three.  I like knowing when something might hit and earthquakes don't give notice, which is scary to me.  Also, earthquakes can cause nasty openings in the ground and that scares me to death partially due to my fear of heights and partially because I don't want to fall into the rift.

Quote from: Connie Anne on April 03, 2012, 01:56:50 PM
The TV in the lunch room is playing a story about tornadoes currently hitting the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas.

I've had people tell me they'd rather live there than here in California, because there are warning signs for tornadoes and there aren't for earthquakes.

But, things like tornadoes & hurricanes hit just about every year. I could not imagine trying to recover from these things on a regular basis.

You have a greater chance of dying from a bee sting than from an earthquake, in the United States.

You have a greater chance of dying in a tornado, than in an earthquake.

However, one must remember than not all regions of the country have the same risk for either type of natural disaster.

I'll take a hurricane over a tornado or earthquake any day.  Since I don't live on the coast we only get the sloppy seconds.  I actually felt my first earthquake several months ago.  It was a small one but fun and we don't get tornadoes that often.  I've never even seen one.

Quote from: Sarah Louise on April 03, 2012, 03:55:10 PM
I've been though all three. 

Earthquakes you hear coming, but you are at their mercy.

Tornadoes, you "sometimes" get warnings, often too late to help, but all you can do is wait.

Hurricanes you usually have time to board your windows up and move out.

But all of them you are at natures mercy.

Actually, that is a misnomer.

The first arrival of earthquake waves are "P-waves."  These are compressional waves and are identical to sound waves in the earth.  These compressional waves travel faster underground than in the air.  So what you "hear" as an earthquake "coming," is actually an earthquake already arrived!  The larger amplitude waves, known as "S-waves," which do a lot of the shaking, are slightly slower than the P-waves.

Quote from: Malachite on April 03, 2012, 10:30:12 PM
I'll take a hurricane over a tornado or earthquake any day.  Since I don't live on the coast we only get the sloppy seconds.  I actually felt my first earthquake several months ago.  It was a small one but fun and we don't get tornadoes that often.  I've never even seen one.

Fun fact - there had never been recorded a cyclonic storm with hurricane force winds in California.  All the hurricanes that have worked their way north from the tropical waters off of Mexico, have died down in the cool waters of the California current, and have never been stronger than tropical storm force when they made landfall.

California, however, does get an occasional tornado.

I was only a few days older than 1 year old when I was in the alaskan quake of '64, we lived in anchorage then. Luckily I only had something hit me in the head where it couldn't do much damage anyway.

I've lived on the NC coast near Cape Lookout for the last 17 years and I've been through a lot of hurricanes, direct hits and some grazers, even one that hit us, went offshore and turned around to have another go at it. Was flooded in 2003 during Isabel, did major damage, but we rebuilt and elevated, so Irene last fall didn't get into my house this time.

I kind of like being outside during hurricanes, just feeling the force of nature like that is exhilarating as all get out. Plus you can get some great pics, lol.

We have the occasional twister and even water spouts, but only one time did I have to leave the house because of one, luckily it lifted and went out over the water after passing over us.

Out of all three, I guess tornadoes scare me the most, not much can stand in their path.

Where I live is 125 miles East from SanFrancisco but there is NO recorded history of seismic activity, My daughter however lives in SF and I do worry a bit about her.

I love the west coast and would not want to live anywhere else

Quote from: Sarah Louise on April 03, 2012, 03:55:10 PM
I've been though all three. 

Earthquakes you hear coming, but you are at their mercy.

Tornadoes, you "sometimes" get warnings, often too late to help, but all you can do is wait.

Hurricanes you usually have time to board your windows up and move out.

But all of them you are at natures mercy.

Me too! I've been through all 3, and was sleeping when the recent spate of Tornadoes ripped through the DFW-Metroplex area earlier today. Thankfully the area of DFW I live in was spared and no one so far has been reported killed or missing, though at least one pet pouch is known to be missing.

I was living in Houston during Hurricane Ike, and had never ever seen Houston without electricity before, and I had lived there a greater part of my life at the time! Eerie! As to Tornadoes...I once saw one during the day between Houston and Galveston when I was a kid, and it is one of the scariest sights I have ever seen! With Doppler Radar you have about 20 minutes to get out of the way...if you get the warning!

http://www.redcrossdallas.org/site/PageServer

California gets tornadoes, they are just very rare, and Shades lives over the hills from Tsunami Evacuation Areas, there are signs all over Half Moon Bay and Pacifica.  I've been through several 6+ quakes, they are disconcerting to say the least.  I get extra points for being on the 16th floor for one of them, that will get you rocking.

Living in a Lahar Evacuation Area would freak me out.

Quote from: tekla on April 03, 2012, 11:53:41 PM
California gets tornadoes, they are just very rare, and Shades lives over the hills from Tsunami Evacuation Areas, there are signs all over Half Moon Bay and Pacifica.  I've been through several 6+ quakes, they are disconcerting to say the least.  I get extra points for being on the 16th floor for one of them, that will get you rocking.

Living in a Lahar Evacuation Area would freak me out.

You have to be close to a volcano for that.