Park Issues

How safe is San Diego when this big earthquake is supposed to come?

As you San Diegans know, we have a 99% chance of having a 6.7+ magnitude earthquake within the next 30 years. But that is just generally California. I heard it would reach all the way down to the Salton Sea and San Diego would still feel effects. So what would we feel? A 4.5 - 5? I know we aren't directly near the San Andreas fault which is the one that has the highest probability of having the 6.7. Let me know your thoughts.

Public Comments

1. A lot of the buildings in san diego are designed to withstand an earthquake. They are built mostly of wood and stucco. Sure the stucco would crack but it would not cause the house to tumble, And nothing is certain. We have earthquakes all the time
2. We should be ok. We doint build as high and most that do are prepared to withstand a good quake. The main reason you dont have much to worry about is our location. Sourounded by mountains we will feel the quake but chances are it wont be so close to us that we will get rocked as bad as Los Angeles will. Thats the main thing to worry about also. Once LA goes we are pretty much cutoff. Forget about leaving town or anything like that. Water is my main concern in these parts. So back to your question we should be ok unless we break off and become an island or something craxy like that.
3. San Diego will be fine, although the people maybe a little shorter.
4. Quake area locates at the other side of mountain seem less effect. SD is protected from mountain walls on east and northeast sides.
5. San Diego is far away so that we may not feel the effects, or barely feel them. I leatrned about this in my geo class in college.
6. Just because we are not directly against the San Andreas fault does not mean we are safe from a major earthquake. San Andreas is but one fault line. San Diego is situated along other fault lines and while they don't have as much activity as San Andreas, they do pose a danger as well. A few years ago, while in college, we studied earthquakes briefly and I was told that when there are a lot of smaller earthquakes along a particular fault line, that is often a good sign because it is allowing the fault to release a little bit of pressure, a little bit at a time. San Andreas does produce big quakes from time to time, but frequently also produces little ones that most people don't even notice. This is good. Here in San Diego, we don't have that as much and that can be bad because it means that pressure is building up without a chance to be released now and then. We have had some minor earthquakes on occasion, but to what extent that will help us down the road is hard to say. All I know is that during the Northridge earthquake of 1994, I was taking a bath in San Diego and the water sloshed around quite a bit. It was freaky. The quake measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and it wasn't along the San Andreas fault, but rather a fault near there. I remember that a double-decker bridge collapsed, killing people in their cars as their cars were smashed as if in a wrecking yard. Since that earthquake, California has done A LOT of retrofitting of buildings and bridges to make them more able to withstand a major earthquake. While in heavy traffic, I still will not remain stopped under a bridge (I won't even drive under a bridge in stop and go traffic until doing so will put me on the other side of the bridge before I have to stop again) simply because I remember all too well what happened to those people on the bottom level of the bridge years ago. Still, I feel fairly confident that California has made significant improvements to structures, including freeways and bridges, that we may feel a lot of shaking, but will withstand less damage than in years past. I do not forsee anything even close like what China has recently experienced. For what it's worth, I am 46 and have lived in Southern California most of my life. I have been in many earthquakes and know what to do during one. Never run outside because flying debris from falling buildings could injure or kill you. Get under a table, desk or other large object that can shield you from a falling ceiling or stand in a doorway frame because the extra beams used for the doorway also provide more safety. They have been predicting "The Big One" ever since I was a little kid. We WILL have that earthquake one day, and it will likely be sooner than later. Still, if we arm ourselves with knowledge and common sense, we will come out okay. I would still rather take my chances on earthquakes in California than tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones, snowstorms, ice storms etc in other parts of the country or world. :)