Anticipating the Next Mega-Quake

There is a great deal of evidence that the next big subduction quake is only a matter of time. As you look around the Ring of Fire here on the Pacific Coast you can see that we are one of the last remaining places where there has not been a significant subduction fault. Thus we are due, perhaps overdue, for our version of a subduction quake. See this CBS News item, Anticipating the Next Mega-Quake.

I've come to the belief that the only things that Americans are good at anticipating are good things. Events like birthdays; graduation; the birth of a child; a new car you are saving for; a home of your own, etc. Why else would the seismologist quoted in the article equate our preparedness for this type of earthquake on a scale of 1-10 at almost a one, with 10 being outstanding.

To become better prepared for this looming event, we are going to need to win people's hearts, minds and wallets. This type of threat is exactly why we have government. Government is there to be thinking about the public good when the public is only thinking about the type of "good things" I listed above.

It will take more than one visionary leader to get us out of the mess we are in. Because of the distributed nature of modern society, we are highly interdependent on each other for our modern necessities. Thus, we need more than one person to stand up and say this is a priority.

We are a highly reactive society and I expect it will take the mega quake to wake us up. At that point, the time for anticipating will be over!