Are you afraid of earthquakes?

[ourquest]

I think living in Christchurch is a safe bet that another major earthquake won't happen for quite some time.

Is this the same theory that the safest time to fly with an airline is just after an airline has had an incident?

Do you believe that plate tectonics works in the same way as aircraft technicians and airline safety officers?

Nope. It's a bit different.

[ourquest]

Probability: Having survived a major quake, the plates under Chch must have settled down to a comfortable position for the foreseeable future. Risk = low.

How do you reach the conclusion that the plates "must have settled down to a comfortable position"?

Are you a structural geologist?

[Ana&Steve]

As above.

I come from a country with no earthquakes. Are you worried that one day you will be sitting in your office in Auckland and in comes a big quake and the entire building collapses on you?

I come from an area with earthquakes and they are scary, but in the East (US) they have tornadoes and I find [the thought of] them far more frightening than earthquakes. What I think it boils down to is getting used to the natural disasters of your new home and also that Nature is unpredictable the world over. She'll be right

[Mgee]

Yes, I am afraid of them. But on a similar level I was afraid of bad snowstorms back in my home country or floods in the UK -I realise the risk is there and try to prepare myself against it the best I can, but I don't worry about it on a daily basis and certainly don't let the possiblity of something maybe happening one day dictate how I live my daily life. I'm a search & rescue/civil defence volunteeer, have been for over ten years now, so it's part of my psyche now to identify risks and possible scenarios, but I'd do that in any part of the world. Instead of panicking and worrying constantly, I do what I can do, i.e. have an emergency plan ready, have adequate supplies in case of an emergency etc and hope for the best as it's all I can do. If the brown stuff hits the fan, I hope we'll be OK and able to help others too. I am prepared the best I can, and that's about all I can do about it.

Every single country has its own risks. They may be natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, snowstorms, tornadoes) or wholly or partly man-made like armed conflicts, famine, terrorist attacks, epidemics, political unrest etc, so it's a question of choosing the risks that you think are a lesser evil. We knew what were the most likely risks in NZ when we moved here, and although the thought of a big one hitting Welly is scary, ultimately there isn't much more I can do about it than what I've already done.

It's no use crying over spilt milk, and in the same manner I think it's no use crying over milk that might get spilt some day -or then not.

[zemien]

How do you reach the conclusion that the plates "must have settled down to a comfortable position"?

Are you a structural geologist?

OK, you caught me with that one - I will put a disclaimer next time!

It's true that no one knows when the next earthquake will happen. But my original assertion to evaluate both the probability and magnitude of any risk still stands.

[Wooly_Cow]

OK, you caught me with that one - I will put a disclaimer next time!

It's true that no one knows when the next earthquake will happen. But my original assertion to evaluate both the probability and magnitude of any risk still stands.

....ever heard of earthquake swarms (look up 1840 and 1855, or the period 1929 - 1945)? Also ...just how many aftershocks are enough to make residents feel everything is OK....in chch they are up to well over 750 now ...and a recent one was mag. 6 and 12 km deep (shallow) - that's enough to do further damage..

...so no just becuase there has been one quake doesn't mean there wont be another one

[GrumpyGoat]

It's actually over 1000 aftershocks down here.

Also, earthquake activity worldwide has been increasing during the last century.

So just because we have had a big one doesn't make me feel more secure. Less secure, actually. Because now we have had the stress of over 1000 earthquakes to start weakening the structures. I worry about the next really big one. And it really is just a matter of time on the Alpine Fault.

[minnysian]

Minnysian

I was not being flippant with the Christchurch comment. It is scary, there is a chance it will happen again here as the Alpine Fault is supposedly due a rupture. I did not lose my house, nor did I have much damage. But I and everyone here lived through this. Even those who had damage to property had very little damage to self (apart from frayed nerves). However it has not made me want to leave.

It was just pure luck that no one died in the Christchurch earthquake. I have seen the pictures and so many buildings collapsed. The entire street looks like a WW3 scenario.

A wall could have easily collapsed on someone in his house or on an entire group of office workers in their office.

It is a miracle no one died really.

[zemien]

minnysian: Whoa there... deep breaths. Yes it's a miracle! We can't expect we'll be so lucky every time disaster strikes.

But I'd like to think that every morning I see is a miracle, and the fact that we're even capable of emigrating to our dream country is another huge miracle.

So we're already incredibly lucky - you and I and everyone else ")

[minnysian]

minnysian: Whoa there... deep breaths. Yes it's a miracle! We can't expect we'll be so lucky every time disaster strikes.

But I'd like to think that every morning I see is a miracle, and the fact that we're even capable of emigrating to our dream country is another huge miracle.

So we're already incredibly lucky - you and I and everyone else ")

I am not from a third world country so even if I do move to NZ, I won't feel lucky. For me, it is about new experiences. In fact, I would be taking a pay cut in NZ.