Prayers For Haiti

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by Bit

Oh Diva, I think except in California, our building codes don't require anything that would stand through a 7+ earthquake either! That is a HUGE HUGE magnitude; it would have been the same kind of disaster anywhere in the world as far as I know.

My heart's just breaking for the Haitians.... and honestly, the practical side of me is horrified. Where does anyone bury a hundred thousand people? How could they even all be identified?

I think it won't be long and the sad vacant eyes will all be pain-filled, as the initial shock wears off...

I think that's correct. California requires new structures to be able to survive an 8.

However, to give you a sense of scale--the 1989 Loma Prieta quake in San Francisco was a 7.1 according the USGS and there was far LESS damage than in Haiti. A 7.1 here in Portland would probably be pretty devastating but in Los Angeles or San Francisco pretty survivable.

Cheers
LF