San Francisco 100 year after the big quake...who cares...

[beau_safken]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/18/MNGP5IAU4K6.DTL
:whip:

Hey san fran...NOBody cares!!!! I live here and I still don't care. I mean for christ's sake....its San Francisco... Earthquakes happen a lot here, but everyone is all freaking out and talking in the halls at how since today marks 100 years since the massive 1906 quake that leveled all of San Fran, that it's somehow gonna happen today.

NOT!!!!

Geological time and People time dont matter..at all....people are just freaking out for all kinds of crap today. You know what...It snows in Colorado so don't complain when it snows....

 

[shesulsa]

Wow. That has got to be the most disrespectful, careless post about a history-marking natural disaster that I have ever read.

The people who care are the ones whose families were affected by it - thousands died. San Fransisco, as you clearly know, was the epi-center of California in those days - LA was just a desert resort. It was the place to be and the city was nearly a total loss.

Lord.

Full Article

 

[beau_safken]

Disrespectful? This was a natural disaster known to all people that live here. I live in San Fran, and know damn well that there are earthquakes here...

Try this one:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8364-2004Sep9.html

That's something a lot more prevelent and over the years has lead to the death of millions..not just a thousand. Woopty doo.....an earthquake. How about like a cold winter that kills people in alaska, hot weather that kills old people in texas, arizona and chicago... These are all natural triggered disasters...not human made.

Anniversery of the holocost and other human created tragedies are one thing...earthquakes are just a day on a calender of bad luck.

 

[Lisa]

hmm... seems to me from the link you provided that some people in San Fran cared. The care for the family members that were lost and for the spirit of the people that rebuilt a beautiful city that you are so lucky to live in.

Maybe Beau, with time and years of experience under your belt, you will learn that remembering where you came from and the things that happened to you in your life are important cause they shape and form who you are.

I agree with Shesulsa. You are being disrespectful, just because you don't care, doesn't mean other's perspectives are any less important. Bad form, really.

 

[MA-Caver]

I have to side with Georgia on that one.
225,000 people lost their homes and thousands were killed by the fires and buildings and gas explosions. One of them MIGHT'VE been a distant relative of yours. Damages in todays dollars is estimated at over 5 Billion. But who cares right?
San Francisco is a beautiful city with monumental historical significance ... especially to Martial Artists all over America. It was generally the entry point for hundreds of thousands of immigrating Asians, including one Bruce Lee. So, don't knock it. It's the home of some great music and food.
Likewise the city has to be admired for it's rebuilding after the devestation of the '06 quake/fire. A timeline is offered here: http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist10/06timeline.html
Also some sobering panorama type photographs are here: http://www.dualmoments.com/pansfromfilms/sfq1906pano/sfq1906lev2/01-cityhallbig.htm


Today's Salt Lake Tribune has a front page article of premonitory foreboding. http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3721820
Since roughly 80% of Utah's most populous cities lie along a huge fault line (Wasatch Fault), the damage caused by a similar earthquake of the 1906 disaster or the more recent 1996 earthquake in Northlake, would be devestating indeed. Please make it a point to physically stand in front of me and say "who cares?" after it happens. I'll intro you to the homeless.
Most of the large buildings in Downtown Salt Lake have been designed with earthquakes in mind, but the type of seismic movement will determine if the buildings will be able to withstand the tremors. The entire valley floor is nothing but sediment lake bottom from the ancient Lake Bonneville of some 25,000 years ago. With the right seismic movement the whole floor of the valley can become as jello on a plate. So the threat of severe widespread damage is very real here.

 

[terryl965]

Georgia is right about his one, the past is a great reminder to the future and the people that was lost will always be withen one's family.
Terry

 

[elder999]

An important lesson, and one that I'm sure that you've heard before:
Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

Seen here :

With the 100th anniversary upon us, we at Standard & Poor's Ratings services take a look at two key questions: Is San Francisco prepared for the next Big One, and what would a 1906-magnitude quake do to the city's credit ratings?

The answer to the first question is a resounding "no." According to state studies, several hospitals, including San Francisco General, and schools throughout the region wouldn't be able withstand a major earthquake. Many older buildings were built with inadequate reinforcement and are at risk of collapse.
"No city can really be truly ready for a devastating earthquake -- there are too many unknowns," says Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' credit analyst Ian Carroll. "While tens of billions of dollars have been spent to reinforce buildings, roads, and bridges region-wide, many buildings and critical infrastructure need to be brought up to code."

OF course, this is a good case of those who remember the past being doomed to repeat it anyway!

 

[beau_safken]

Thats why I don't own real estate here. I'm saving up for just after the next big one to pick off some property from those that didnt prepare. Foreclosures....Raw land from destroyed buildings with not enough insurance...Government grants and programs galore will be all over that with need for investors to drive that train. Toot Toot

 

[MA-Caver]

An important lesson, and one that I'm sure that you've heard before:
Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

Seen here :



OF course, this is a good case of those who remember the past being doomed to repeat it anyway!

Well it's because we (mankind) have been trying to fight the most powerful force on this planet; Nature. No matter how many dams we build, no matter how many levees, no matter how often we shoot at snow-laden mountian tops to avert avalanches, build "earthquake-proof buildings", and so on...
Nature will come out ahead, has always come out ahead and always will.
We go through our lives trying to resist nature when we should be harmonizing with it. We know that spring tends to bring about tornado seasons, thus we prepare for it, getting better at it too, but they're still wildly unpredictable, hurricanes, and floods and all the things that are showing themselves to be seasonal events, they can be worked around with and survived.
It's not enough to simply say... well, don't live in the path of a tornado, or in South Florida where hurricanes have repeatedly bashed billions of dollars worth of damage, but it can be enough to find better ways to manage living in these places and still deal with the tides that nature brings.

 

[elder999]

Thats why I don't own real estate here. I'm saving up for just after the next big one to pick off some property from those that didnt prepare. Foreclosures....Raw land from destroyed buildings with not enough insurance...Government grants and programs galore will be all over that with need for investors to drive that train. Toot Toot

Beachfront property in what used to be Bakersfield....houses with excellent views of the lava flow from Mt. Shasta.......island property in what used to be Berdoo........"toot-toot" indeed......

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

An important lesson, and one that I'm sure that you've heard before:
Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

Seen here :



OF course, this is a good case of those who remember the past being doomed to repeat it anyway!

How might one repeat an earthquake? Just out of curiosity.

Not to defend Beau's tone, as I am frequently one of the first to jump dopwn folks' throats for disrespect in these fora. But as a recent resident of Napa & Santa Rosa (North Bay San Fran region), it's being played to death out here. For the last month and 1/2 at least, the news radio and local TV has been punctuated every ten minutes with some innane factoid regarding the quake and it's centennial. Kinda like when the stores prepare for Christmas by putting up decorations in August...by the time the holiday is actually here, you're glad to see it go.

We have been inundated with quake-o-memoria ad nauseum for months out here. I may not admire the tone with which he relates his reflections, but I can certainly relate to the frustrations behind it.

Best Regards,

Dave

 

[beau_safken]

How might one repeat an earthquake? Just out of curiosity.

Not to defend Beau's tone, as I am frequently one of the first to jump dopwn folks' throats for disrespect in these fora. But as a recent resident of Napa & Santa Rosa (North Bay San Fran region), it's being played to death out here. For the last month and 1/2 at least, the news radio and local TV has been punctuated every ten minutes with some innane factoid regarding the quake and it's centennial. Kinda like when the stores prepare for Christmas by putting up decorations in August...by the time the holiday is actually here, you're glad to see it go.

We have been inundated with quake-o-memoria ad nauseum for months out here. I may not admire the tone with which he relates his reflections, but I can certainly relate to the frustrations behind it.

Best Regards,

Dave

Thank you:asian:

 

[Lisa]

Thank you:asian:

and you know Beau, if you would have put it across that way, I don't think anyone would have jumped down your throat. It is all in the delivery.

 

[FearlessFreep]

Well now we know why he can't get a date...

 

[beau_safken]

Well now we know why he can't get a date...

Thanks for that....

 

[Makalakumu]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/18/MNGP5IAU4K6.DTL
:whip:

Hey san fran...NOBody cares!!!! I live here and I still don't care. I mean for christ's sake....its San Francisco... Earthquakes happen a lot here, but everyone is all freaking out and talking in the halls at how since today marks 100 years since the massive 1906 quake that leveled all of San Fran, that it's somehow gonna happen today.

NOT!!!!

Geological time and People time dont matter..at all....people are just freaking out for all kinds of crap today. You know what...It snows in Colorado so don't complain when it snows....

It certainly is easy to get sick of the sensationalism that these types of things get promoted with. I can understand your frustration. My experience with people who live in Earthquake Land is that most people don't think about it because its safer that way. And when they are forced to think about it, all of the built up anxiety comes flowing out of the pent up hole it was shoved in. And then there are those special people who think about it all of the time and are really paranoid. When people start freaking out, they get their moments in the sun with the "I told you so".

The problem with earthquakes is that they are infrequent, big and scary, and can happen without warning. Things like this quickly grow to mystical proportions in our tribal minds.

 

[Makalakumu]

Well now we know why he can't get a date...

I hope our boy was wearing a cup after that one...

Hey, everyone, maybe its time to lighten up a bit...

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Interesting topic.
Just watched a bit on the History Channel on the 1906 quake, and how prepared, or rather not prepared modern San Fran is to deal with it. Something in the area of 90% unprepared. Only 1 museum and the city hall are on special foundations. Most of the residential buildings are wood frame, and ill prepared to survive a major quake. Several of the bridges also are at great risk of total destruction, estimated rebuilding of the city is over 300 billion, not to mention an incredible loss of life.

Some of the tech they were showing was pretty incredible, buildings moving upto 26 inches off center without damage, stabilizers, reinforced foundations on some bridges, etc.

But the general lack of concern or preparations would worry me if I lived there. Probably why I'll most likely never visit California.

 

[beau_safken]

You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I have seen around here Bob. On my walk I saw a house that was on Brick pylons.... I asked the owner how that could possibly be considered safe for a earthquake. He just said well it was grandfathered in and he wasnt gonna spend money to fix it if the city didnt care . I can understand that, but woo.... Any they are gonna build 3 more sets of stairs BOLTED to telegraph hill. There is a lot about this place that makes you kinda scared. Exposed gas mains, sewers that back up in the rain and just the thought of being in the middle of the transbay tunnel on the subway if that earthquake hit....

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Yup. The fact that most of the hydrant systems through soft soil (easily damaged/destroyed) in a quake will make fighting fires a major problem. Also heard they keep wanting to drop the fireboats from the budget, though in the after effects of a quake, they may be the only things able to pump enough water to save much of the waterfront from burning.

Interesting, in an insane way.