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Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
well, natch is on the plane right now so i'll have to fill in for him : so glad you made it away from the left coast of darkness !
yeesh. i'm so glad earthquakes are not a problem in paris. the people who keep rebuilding san francisco every time it's razed (how many times has it been ? plus the fire, let's not forget that time as well...) just amaze me. i can't decide whether they're suicidal, homicidal, or just completely insane.
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Well, building codes have changed a lot since the quake of 1906, and more damage was caused by the fire than the actual quake.
The damage in the last large SF quake was caused by liquifaction of the strata underneath a portion of the city. The problem there was that the structures had been built on landfill, and most were built prior to the current, more stringent, building codes.
Of course ... then there was the freeway collapse. I must admit, I do not feel particularly safe on double decker freeways or high overpasses in quake prone areas.
But then, you might as well ask why people move back into areas prone to hurricanes, tidal waves, blizzards, floods .... it's just the way people are.