Open AccessLiving With Earthquakes in California: A Survivor's Guide
Author(s) -
Grant Lisa B.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/01eo00354
Subject(s) - seismology , history , geology , forensic engineering , geography , engineering
I write this review from a California government building in a roomful of somber, frightened strangers with armed sheriffs guarding the door. We are prohibited from leaving. A state of emergency has been declared, the airports are closed, the burly man next to me is tearing up, and all I can think of is getting home to my loved ones. What are the odds of being trapped in a jury room with armed guards and a television set, watching the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers and the smoking Pentagon? What are the odds of being trapped in a building, thinking of loved ones, as the Earth shakes, the furniture dances, and the ceiling falls when the long‐awaited ‘Big One’ finally hits California? The analogy is sobering.