[whitecrow]

I live down in San Diego County, about 50 miles or so from where I grew up. My wife and I have both sat through some good ones - she was in the big Hayward quake in '89. The first person I know of to predict "The Big One" was Jean Dixon, way back in the early '60s, and we've been waiting ever since. Someday it'll happen.

If the land west of the San Andreas Fault were to drop below sea level, we'd lose everything west of a line from the Salton Sea up through San Fransisco Bay. There would probably be islands left behind to mark the locations of the highest peaks in the coastal mountain ranges.

In tomorrow's drill, the envisioned quake would last upwards of two minutes. I can tell you from experience that one that lasts 15-20 seconds seems absolutely endless. Most last 10 seconds or less.

The counties north of San Diego would take the brunt of the damage. It really is possible for large parts of Los Angeles to sink into the sea. In the original structural damage, survival would have a random factor. Next would come the fires and the lack emergency services or power. The following days would be very grim.

Here in San Diego County the damage would be less, but we'd almost surely have no power and no water, maybe for weeks in some areas. In a severe enough seismic event, we could find ourselves separated from the mainland, part of a long island that included Baja California.

There isn't much to be done to prepare for such an event. The first priority is making it through the quake itself. You dive for a triangular space made by the edge of a stout piece of furniture and whatever comes crashing down on top of it. Then, hopefully you make it out of the rubble. If the building remains standing, we have food and water for about two weeks for the two of us and our pets. We have batteries and candles, and a good first-aid kit.

Having done what we can to prepare, we don't worry about what might happen.