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Re: Friday, September 2, 2005
"Earthquake in Los Angeles, perhaps?" One of the things that strikes me while watching the pictures on TV is how flimsy the houses look. There's an awful lot of wood frame, clapboard housing in the states. And it doesn't seem to stand up well to hurricanes and tornadoes. Then I remembered my first time in California, LA and San Francisco. And being amazed at seeing wooden houses on stilts built on the side of hills. In an earthquake zone that's known to have the odd bush fire. All this seems very odd to me coming from the UK where we've been building to last in stone and brick for centuries. Then there was the graffiti in SF back in the 70s that said "Entering tall buildings is hazardous to your health." I'm sure we can all think of potential disasters that are more or less likely, but a Californian earthquake is probably top of the list. How many years overdue is the big one now? Next year is the 100 year anniversary of the last one and I remember reading that 70 years is some kind of average. Feels like borrowed time to me.
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