Sorry, you're reading that wrong. That is the disaggregated risk map for Atlanta. Each data point is essentially the possibility that an event there could happen with significant effects in Atlanta. Columbia would have a diff map.

:sadwavey: thats disappointing

I'd be careful with such broad statements. A poorly detailed wood building is toast in a significant earthquake. In fact, wood houses are often the worst offender as far as bad seismic detailing is concerned. Concrete can be equally crappy if you're talking about unreinforced concrete blocks. But on the other hand, reinforced concrete can perform quite well, especially for low-rise structures. Brick is pretty bad, yes. Seismic performance is all in the details.

you still in the closet or :inout:

I guess you've never felt a magnitude 7.

Wood is actually better than concrete since it flexes. But appearantly mud and straw is better than either since in that Mexico City earthquake that broke the shit out of the region none of the historical structures suffered damage.

You should be hoping for small quakes every day then. Unless you didn't pay attention in basic Earth sciences.

there are hundreds of small earthquakes everyday, didn't you pay attention in basic Earth sciences? :gay:

Ya that was awesome, good times. The aftermath was something to see for sure.

you guys crack me up. pansies. california isn't going to fall into the ocean for at least a million or so years. go ahead and buy your central california "waterfront property" now and I'll just sit back and snicker.

<-- california native for 30 years and felt all the "big ones" over that time.

the 7.1 bent a lamp and a silver pitcher. I was about 20 miles from the epicenter for that. Oh and it was my dad's bday.

I'll say it again: one can't make sweeping statements about certain materials being inherently better for seismic performance than others. A properly detailed reinforced concrete structure will behave much better than a wood structure. Typical wood construction is HORRIBLY detailed.

Mexico City is a different story altogether. Due to site characteristics (soft soil), the high frequency seismic waves were damped out, leaving only the amplified low frequency waves, which were right within the range of natural periods of modern construction. The response spectrum of the Mexico City earthquake, recorded in Mexico City (as opposed to outside the city), is very different than what occurs in this country.

Earthquake engineering is my specialty in forensic engineering, so this is a topic close to heart.

haha nah im outta the closet.

anyway, im not saying that the 5.6M was scary as fuck, but it sure was a nerve wrecker. i can still remember the loma prieta earthquake. it was all over news, went to a couple of stores, everything was on the floor... and that was only a 6.9...

as for the BIG one coming... its getting dangerously close for the hayward fault according to the USGS. milpitas (the city i live in) lies directly above the hayward fault. the last big one was some decade ago, and calaveras fault shaker last night was considered "normal seismic activity"

the big shaker that just occurred could even trigger the "BIG" one, but im holding my breath for that one.

i guess you can say that because it was a shallow earthquake (only 5 miles from the under the surface) the effect of it "felt" greater than what it really was measured.

and i was only 5 miles from the epicenter.

I am excited for the big one to hit utah.. they keep talking it up.
I have never felt an earthquake in my life..
I feel left out

Thank god I live in the pacific northwest.All we get here are floods and landslides.

they are not a fun thing if you are in a bad place, so dont feel so bad

Believe me when I say this guys. As soon as I am able im buying property on the border of Arizona and California. Once the big one hits, Arizona is gonna be beach front property.

how long did it take for eastern north america to be water front property?

10 million? 20 million years?

http://www.scotese.com/pangeanim.htm check out the animation on the left.

thats awesome
America totally had it's wang in Africas face