Why do people rebuild after earthquakes?

[tonilea]

My five year old asked me that tonight and to be honest I have always wondered the same myself. He has been reading about the San Fancisco earthquake.

Enlighten us.

 

[bekkiz]

I guess I don't understand the question. Why wouldn't you? Is there a fear that another earthquake will hit? Then why would you live where there are tornados or hurricanes or floods?

If you never rebuilt after a natural disaster, you could never live anywhere.

 

[tonilea]

I guess it is those who live right on the fault lines and the most damaged areas. IMO, the same applies to beach dwellers and hurricanes. I would live in a coastal area, but well out of the storm surge area.

We live in tornado country, but those are so random that you can't really predict where one will hit.

ETA: I guess I would include those who live along the shore of big rivers like the Mississippi.

 

[HunnyPots]

What do you suggest they do instead?

 

[tonilea]

What do you suggest they do instead?

I am not trying to be rude or a smart aleck. It is a serious question - why would you rebuild in an area that has repeated natural disasters? Is it an emotional attachment to the location?

 

[bekkiz]

I lived for a good many years about 1 mile from a major fault in California. You can't let it worry you. Earthquakes are not common, and they rarely strike in the same area. Also, the damage is usually much worse away from the fault. For example, the big '89 earthquake did the worst damage in San Francisco and Oakland, about 60-70 miles away from the epicenter.

You can't really predict where the epicenter will be nor which areas will be hit tha hardest. Furthermore, the earthquake in 1906 didn't cause the damage for the most part, it was the fires and lack of fire control that nearly wiped out the city. People rebuild after fires all of the time.

 

[portocall]

Well, sometimes it is complicated. We didn't have to rebuild per se, however, after Katrina we both still had our jobs, both with good benefits. My husband had risen up with him company at a rapid pace and he didn't want to start at the bottom again. But really truth be told, and not to turn this into a debate on which natural disaster is "better", we all have our own comfort level, but I like hurricanes because they give plenty of warning. I prefer not to have them at all, but if I had to pick one, that would be it.

 

[portocall]

Oh, on the beach dwellers part... I grew up in Florida and most of my family live on a barrier island. Aside from a fence blown down and dirty pools they had no damage from 3 hurricanes in 2004. My mother lives inland away from the storm surge area had far worse damage. Sometimes you really just can't tell how things are going to go.

 

[tonilea]

Well, sometimes it is complicated. We didn't have to rebuild per se, however, after Katrina we both still had our jobs, both with good benefits. My husband had risen up with him company at a rapid pace and he didn't want to start at the bottom again. But really truth be told, and not to turn this into a debate on which natural disaster is "better", we all have our own comfort level, but I like hurricanes because they give plenty of warning. I prefer not to have them at all, but if I had to pick one, that would be it.

I suppose that might be true. A familiar "problem" is probably less frightening than an unfamilar one.

 

[tonilea]

I lived for a good many years about 1 mile from a major fault in California. You can't let it worry you. Earthquakes are not common, and they rarely strike in the same area. Also, the damage is usually much worse away from the fault. For example, the big '89 earthquake did the worst damage in San Francisco and Oakland, about 60-70 miles away from the epicenter.

You can't really predict where the epicenter will be nor which areas will be hit tha hardest. Furthermore, the earthquake in 1906 didn't cause the damage for the most part, it was the fires and lack of fire control that nearly wiped out the city. People rebuild after fires all of the time.

I didn't realize the dammage was worse away from the fault lines. You have educated me. Thank you. It does give me a better perspective to explain that when DS and I read that book together.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Sometimes you don't. The downtown area of Jefferson City (where I grew up) was flooded by the flood of 93. That rarely happens so people fixed up the buildings and went on. But on the other side of the bridge that comes into town were a lot of houses built along the flood plane. (Most of the town is on cliffs above the river so the city itself is safe from floods). The government wouldn't let people rebuild on the actual flood plane and now it serves as the soccer/baseball fields for the Show Me State Games. In this case they decided it really wasn't smart to build along the flood plane of the Missouri River, particularly as it floods fairly predictably.

If you are living in an area where disasters are rather infrequent, it makes sense to rebuild. Most areas are prone to some kind of disaster. Out here it's floods and tornadoes. I suppose you could include earthquakes if the "big one" ever strikes the New Madrid fault line. Florida has hurricanes, California has earthquakes. No place is safe. And really, can you even recall the last major earthquake in one of these areas? I can't unless we're talking at least 10 years ago. Life is full of risks, you have to decide what risks you are willing to take.

 

[tasha99]

Hmmm. . .

Let's not live anywhere in the red/orange/yellow:



Then let's not live near any coast (tsunamis and hurricanes). Then no flat areas or areas w/tornadoes. Then no areas prone to flooding. You can find maps for these too and see that there aren't a lot of places left to live.

 

[HunnyPots]

I am not trying to be rude or a smart aleck. It is a serious question - why would you rebuild in an area that has repeated natural disasters? Is it an emotional attachment to the location?

My question is a serious one as well. What do you do? You have to live somewhere and natural disasters of some form happen everywhere on the face of the earth.

 

[tonilea]

Some of the answers have made me wonder why I bother with the DIS.

If you answered my question in the same spirit it was asked, then, thank you.

 

[diznygirl]

Also, when you rebuild after an earthquake you make the stuctures more safe. After the Northridge earthquake a lot of old brick buildings fell. Those were rebuilt more structurally sound and able to withstand a quake the next time.

(and for what it's worth - I prefer earthquakes to hurricanes. No warning but they are much shorter! )

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

What's really interesting is that one of the biggest earthquakes to hit our country was actually here in Missouri along the New Madrid fault. It moved the Missouri River a mile and made it run backwards for 11 days! It even made church bells ring as far away as Washington. If the big one ever hits, it's going to be bad. The limestone has a very different structure than the bedrock out in California so it actually magnifies the damage. Scientists expect that there will be another big quake like we experienced in 1811.

But as far as I know, earthquake proofing is not considered a high priority around here because earthquakes are so rare. So when it does happen, I have a feeling we will be in a world of hurt.

Diznygirl made a valid point: We learn from history. When a disaster strikes, we look at ways to minimize the damage. Sometimes that means not rebuilding in a specific area. Other times that means changing how we design structures and the materials that we use. Buildings in earthquake prone areas are built to withstand the forces involved. A lot has been learned over the past few decades and now buildings are safer than ever.

 

[tasha99]

Some of the answers have made me wonder why I bother with the DIS.

If you answered my question in the same spirit it was asked, then, thank you.

I don't think anyone meant anything bad in answering your question (tone just doesn't come through that well on the Internet). It's just a matter of what else can you do but rebuild? Having lived through many many earthquakes, only a couple have been alarming. We lost power for a few days after the Loma Prieta quake in 1989, and that one seemed to go on forever, even though I'm sure it wasn't that long.

It's all what you're used to. I've lived all along the Pacific coast and Japan/Korea, so I'm used to earthquakes. They hit, but rarely do much damage. Even the bigger quakes don't damage everything (it's like a tornado--the whole area is sort of "hit" but only certain parts are damaged). I remember my first tornado watch when I lived near Cincinnati, and it terrified me. I camped out for hours in the bathroom with my cat and some supplies, even though nothing ever happened.

 

[portocall]

Also, when you rebuild after an earthquake you make the stuctures more safe. After the Northridge earthquake a lot of old brick buildings fell. Those were rebuilt more structurally sound and able to withstand a quake the next time.

(and for what it's worth - I prefer earthquakes to hurricanes. No warning but they are much shorter! )

This is very true.. after each disaster there are many lessons learned and we as human beings like to tinker around to see if we can outsmart mother nature the next time.

I also love where I live. I can't imagine living anywhere else, I don't want to live anywhere else. That, coupled with the the fact that our jobs were intact and our house did not flood (we are so grateful and lucky for that) we came back minus most of our friends and family. It was one of the hardest decisions that we have ever made as a couple, but one that I will not regret, even if the day comes that we do lose all.

 

[Planogirl]

People asked that often about New Orleans after Katrina. Keep in mind that New Orleans is a very old city where such a thing had never happened to that degree. Most of the damage was also caused by neglect from various quarters.

I think you rebuild because you don't expect such a thing to happen again and because the place is home.

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

diznygirl nailed what I was going to say. I'm sure there are various regulations that may have gone into effect between the time of the "Big" earthquakes and the time the buildings had been built originally. More standards to make new structures more safe, like rollers, and building out of different materials, etc.

Living in SoCal, you get kinda used to them hitting ocassionally, they shake for a few seconds, and then it's over. If you have a huge earthquake, it may be that people are attached to that area and would like to resume living where they've lived for x amount of time. Life moves on.