What's scarier to you? Tornadoes or Earthquakes?

[Muse]

guess you kids missed San Fransisco earthquake back in 89.

And that was pretty mild, around 7.0, 1/100th the strength of the Sendai quake on March 11. The Cypress Structure in the photo was ~50 miles from the epicenter. The potential devastation from a huge earthquake is virtually unimaginable.

 

[Muse]

West coast = earthquakes.

East coast = tornadoes.

Having just recently had F2/F3 tornadoes touch down in our county....they can be devastating.

Don't kid yourself. A large extremely devastating earthquake is far more likely in the Eastern USA than a devastating tornado in, say, CA. There was a huge quake in the Missouri Valley in the 19th century:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_New_Madrid_earthquake

1812 New Madrid earthquake

The 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes (pronounced /nuː ˈmædrɨd/) were an intense intraplate earthquake series beginning with an initial pair of very large earthquakes on December 16, 1811. These earthquakes remain the most powerful earthquakes ever to hit the eastern United States.[1] These events, as well as the seismic zone of their occurrence, were named for the Mississippi River town of New Madrid, Louisiana Territory, now Missouri.

There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt strongly over roughly 130,000 square kilometers (50,000 square miles), and moderately across nearly 3 million square kilometers (1 million square miles). The historic 1906 San Francisco earthquake, by comparison, was felt moderately over roughly 16,000 square kilometers (6,000 square miles).
- - - -
Further down at that page on the New Madrid earthquakes of 1812:

Recurrence potential

In a report filed in November 2008, The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency warned that a serious earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone could result in "the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States," further predicting "widespread and catastrophic" damage across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and particularly Tennessee, where a 7.7 magnitude quake or greater would cause damage to tens of thousands of structures affecting water distribution, transportation systems, and other vital infrastructure.[18]

 

[BoomerD]

Originally Posted by System_Mechanic
guess you kids missed San Fransisco earthquake back in 89.

And that was pretty mild, around 7.0, 1/100th the strength of the Sendai quake on March 11. The Cypress Structure in the photo was ~50 miles from the epicenter. The potential devastation from a huge earthquake is virtually unimaginable.

Yet, in all, as I noted earlier in the thread, the Loma Prieta quake only killed 63 people...many of then in that collapsed structure.

 

[MotionMan]

I have lived my entire life in California and have been through a few big and big-ish quakes.

I have never been in a tornado.

I fear the unknown, so I voted tornado.

MotionMan

 

[OverVolt]

Earthquake, because the method of death is more terrifying. Imagine a building falling on you, its terrible.

A tornado is more tangible, like you can run away from it, hide under an underpass, drive away from it etc.

There's just too many times where if there was an earthquake and I've been in some shoddy yet big structure on the bottom floor where it would really suck for me.

 

[MotionMan]

Earthquake, because the method of death is more terrifying. Imagine a building falling on you, its terrible.

A tornado is more tangible, like you can run away from it, hide under an underpass, drive away from it etc.

There's just too many times where if there was an earthquake and I've been in some shoddy yet big structure on the bottom floor where it would really suck for me.

I hear that hiding under an underpass during a tornado is a BAD idea (and probably is not so smart in an earthquake, too).

MotionMan

 

[BurnItDwn]

I've experienced 1 tornado, and seen a couple from a distance.
I've never experienced an earthquake.

If there's a tornado, I can hide in the basement and 99.999% chance be fine.

If there's a earthquake, I am afraid my house or if I'm at work, the office might collapse on me and trap me, slowly dying from dehydration and pinned down by rubble.

 

[Electric Amish]

Neither scares me.

 

[Schadenfroh]

I grew up under a near constant tornado warning, never been in an earthquake, so I fear the unknown. Cracks in the earth opening to swallow me and my car :-O

Plus, you can get a few minutes warning for a tornado, long enough to get to a shelter, not so much for "the big one."

 

[William Gaatjes]

alien invasions are pretty damn scary

That depends on the aliens who are invading.
I would not be surprised if one day people find proof that a lot of variations of life on this planet originated from local solar space. Insides of meteors are ideal habitats with all kinds of elements and there is surrounding the meteorites in space a lot EM energy next to free electrons and protons to power reactions and build complex molecules.

I would not be surprised if our solar system is filled with life. But no alien or predator like creatures. in space numbers and power generation efficiency counts more then the size of teeth or muscle strength. But parasites can always come to life.

 

[moshquerade]

where i live i have to be concerned with neither.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Earthquakes. Not that I think one will happen in Minnesota, but there's no warning and the damage is widespread. We get a fair number of tornadoes here but they cover such a small section of land that the chances of one hurting you is pretty low. Not that it doesn't happen; it's probably a lot more likely than getting struck by lightning, but at least you will have some warning.

 

[William Gaatjes]

If i would be experience a tornado and an earthquake, i assume the earthquake would only be dangerous when the ground rips open or buildings crumble and i get hit by debris.

A tornado only uses winds but winds at very high speeds thus giving a lot of kinetic energy to objects it picks up. Strong enough winds to lift me up high enough in the air that the impact on ground would kill me. However, the tornado will also suck up a lot of particles from the ground. Thus if the impact from falling on the ground does not kill me, the impact with high velocity objects inside the funnel of the tornado will.

An earthquake impulse releases more energy but is also spread out more. A tornado is strong only locally. I do not find tornadoes scary. But i would not hesitate to flee.

For earthquakes, look up :

Seismic waves : p waves and s waves.

 

[hdeck]

picked earthquake just because you know when a tornado is coming. there is no warning for an earthquake.

 

[William Gaatjes]

picked earthquake just because you know when a tornado is coming. there is no warning for an earthquake.

Actually there is. If you monitor the seismic impulses that constantly travel through the earth you can detect an earthquake coming. It seems that earthquakes all have the same pattern of vibrations prior to the earth quake it self. The issue here i think is not to detect the actual earthquake p and s waves (these are easy to detect) but to listen to changes in the background noise prior to an earthquake because the point where the plates connect is changing just before the quake. I would guess that the density because of the pressure the plates exert to each other is changing becoming more compressed and then will snap off. This snapping of would cause an earthquake IIRC. However, the density changes should be measurable with sound wave measurements. I would also think the background noise would change when the density increases.

 

[yh125d]

Earthquake, if only because I've lived in the heart of tornado alley my whole life and it doesn't concern me at all anymore.


For reference, the may 03 one that tore the shit out of OKC and set the wind speed record at 318mph stopped about 4 miles short of my house, which it was heading directly for.

 

[tboo]

Im scared of chiggers

 

[yh125d]

Im scared of chiggers

me too. they are a total bitch. If I even think I might have gotten near some, I'll go home and take a long bath with at least a pint of bleach

 

[BoomerD]

Im scared of chiggers

Heh-heh...30-some years ago, the company I was working for, offered me the job of crane foreman at the Muskogee OG&E power plant they were building.

My wife was all for it, (see new places, more money, etc.) until her dad told her, "You'll love Oklahoma. Not much there but chiggers, ni**ers, and rattlesnakes."

That was the end of that... I ended up taking a job with a different company...and we stayed in the West.

 

[yh125d]

Heh-heh...30-some years ago, the company I was working for, offered me the job of crane foreman at the Muskogee OG&E power plant they were building.

My wife was all for it, (see new places, more money, etc.) until her dad told her, "You'll love Oklahoma. Not much there but chiggers, ni**ers, and rattlesnakes."

That was the end of that... I ended up taking a job with a different company...and we stayed in the West.

heh, actually theres very few of the last two, but the first one is bad enough by itself

 

[marvdmartian]

Tornado, by far. You can build for earthquakes, and minimize the damage (though most buildings are not, in fact, designed to be earthquake "proof").

Tornadoes, you might see coming, or at least see the weather system that could spawn a tornado coming, and take cover. But many tornadoes happen at night, when it's dark, and they pop up on you like frikkin' Dracula. D:

Besides, I've been through 4 major earthquakes (magnitude 7 or greater), and survived. Going through a tornado frankly scares the shit out of me.

 

[MotionMan]

Besides, I've been through 4 major earthquakes (magnitude 7 or greater)

1. Where do you live now.
2. Please notify us when and where you move to in the future.

I do not want to live anywhere near you.

MotionMan

 

[mmntech]

I don't live in an area prone to either. We've only had two major tornadoes in my area in 100 years. Only the one in 1923 caused any deaths. Had an F1 touch down in 2009 but it only tore the roofs off some buildings.

Earthquakes happen but are very weak.

If I had to choose, I'd say earthquake. If a major one hits, it's going to happen without warning.

 

[Muse]

Yet, in all, as I noted earlier in the thread, the Loma Prieta quake only killed 63 people...many of then in that collapsed structure.

Loma Prieta will be at most a footnote to the coming
Big Ones
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Show me the tornado that has killed over 250,000 people.

 

[Mr. Lennon]

I love tornadoes because they always seem to take out Teabagger settlements throughout the country. It's like God is telling them something.