It’s the centennial anniversary of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco that measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. 
 
The ’89 quake, which caught the city unaware ten minutes before the first pitch of Game 3 in the World Series between the A’s of Oakland and the City’s Giants, measured a 6.9.  Among those “caught with their pants down” was a young johnny hong kong nekkid to his undies, wondering if it was possible to watch a couple more minutes of Mr. Belvedre before jumping in the shower and still make it out to catch the introductions at the ‘Stick.
 
The San Francisco Chronicle has been running a great series on the 1906 earthquake and what might happened if it happened again today.
 
Consider this: a 7.0 earthquake releases a seismic energy load about equal to 32 million tons of TNT.  A magnitude 8.0 quake?  1 billion tons of TNT.  Billy Joe London has always said, ”Earthquakes are sexy” but that might be a little too much sexiness, if you catch my drift.

The lesson in all of this?  Hook up your disaster plans, bitches!

***UPDATE***: Just caught this on CNN.  Apparently, Tennessee is the new San Francisco:

“Here in the New Madrid seismic zone, we are in the middle of a plate. And it’s really a big mystery as to why we have big earthquakes here,” Gomberg said.

[snip]

Which is why emergency managers and other public officials have the difficult job of preparing a population for a natural disaster that may not happen for generations.

But it may happen tomorrow.

The New Madrid area experiences about 100 earthquakes a year, but they are small: magnitudes 1, 2 or 3. So unlike many West Coast residents who have either felt major tremors or have heard accounts of damage and survival from friends and family members, the idea of “The Big One” in St. Louis or Memphis is hard to grasp.

And for all you Manhattanites talkin’ shit, click on this!

 

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