Personally I don't want to live in Seattle because of the earthquake risk that nobody is prepared for.
See http://discovermagazine.com/2012/extreme-earth/01-big-one-ea... if you don't know what I'm talking about.
See http://discovermagazine.com/2012/extreme-earth/01-big-one-ea... if you don't know what I'm talking about.
Earthquakes are a good reason not to live anywhere on the Pacific coast. Hurricanes are a good reason not to live in the southeast, or apparently, New Jersey. And I don't want to live in "tornado alley"...
Edit: That article is just more FUD, designed to be fed to people who enjoy being afraid. There's no new knowledge there.
I absolutely know this to be false.
I grew up just north of you in Victoria. I was a teenager when they began piecing together evidence that earthquakes of that magnitude actually could hit the area. Before then there was no thought to preparation. And large parts of my home town are still on landfill, close to sea level. (Which is not what you want during an earthquake...)
Earthquakes are a good reason not to live anywhere on the Pacific coast.
The earthquake risk in California is well-understood and the area is prepared for it. That risk is quite acceptable to me. The Pacific Northwest is less prepared, and has the potential for an earthquake over 10x bigger than anything that California has to worry about.
That article is just more FUD, designed to be fed to people who enjoy being afraid. There's no new knowledge there.
It was one of the top links when I searched for "Cascadia superfault". I did not research it carefully. I would not expect it to contain novel information.
I respect your difference in risk tolerance, but don't think we're oblivious to earthquakes here. That's just slanderous :)
That's probably one of the top links because it's so new, but most of its details are from more than 20 years ago. It doesn't even mention the expectation of the "big one" triggering a reaction from Mt Rainier, causing a "burp" and a lahar landslide.
On the other hand, living in N. Central FL, there were several times where my life was disrupted for days by hurricanes.
The odds are high that it will not go off in the time that the United States of America is a country.
The odds are reasonable that it will not go off in the time that homo sapiens is a species.
If it does go off, it will be the largest disaster on record, the United States as we know it will be destroyed, and it will be a worldwide threat.
Let's not worry about it, shall we?
Either it happens, I have enough warning and I live, it happens and I don't have enough warning so I die, or it doesn't happen. No sense worrying in any case.
My point is just that if it goes off, the problem won't be just Colorado's.
Concern over the possibility of that earthquake happening in my lifetime is one of the reasons why I do not want to return there, or want my children to put down roots there.