NO ‘CANES - JUST ‘QUAKES AND FIRES
Friends and relatives in Alabama, Florida, Arkansas and North Carolina had to batten down the hatches and get out the rubber boots during recent visits by hurricanes Gustav and Hanna.
A friend in Mobile lost the front porch of a beach house which had just been re-built after being destroyed by Katrina. My brother in a new Arkansas retirement community had a drenching 7.5 inches of rain in a day.
I couldn’t help drawing a mental comparison to the arid summer we experienced this year in Southern California. San Diego, for example, must have had all of about .10 of an inch of moisture this summer (and been drenched by about 1.7 inches to date for the year!)
In fact, continuing government alerts tell us we’re facing possible water-rationing. My wife and I have cut showers to three times a week, run the dishwasher only when chock full, and our lawn is turning an unappealing brown. (Even my “Keep Off the Lawn” sign has died!)
But we want to make sure we have enough moisture in the County’s tanks to put out the inevitable late October fires.
I was raised in the stormy Midwest and some days would give anything for a good summer downpour. But I suppose if I heard a sudden, unfamiliar clap of thunder now, I’d probably hide under the bed.
Which reminds me, the loudest clap of thunder I ever heard, occurred in Switzerland, during a storm over the mighty Jungfrau peak. In a hotel at the foot of the famous mountain, my wife and I had just drowsed off, after a strenuous day touring and devouring a dinner to die for. The atomic-bomb-like explosion at l a.m. rattled windows and brought us straight out of our feather bed!
But it’s California’s well-publicized earthquakes that put the fear of moving here into most of our out-of-town friends and relatives - or so they tell us. Yet, San Diego has never had a major destructive seismic event. Quakes centered or felt in our county, starting with a 5.4-magnitude rumble near China, which we recently felt:
Nov. 22, 1800 - The first recorded earthquake struck here and was believed to be a 6.5 magnitude. It cracked adobe walls at the missions of San Diego de Alcala and San Juan Capistrano.
April 18, 1906 - An 8.3 quake and subsequent fire that destroyed much of San Francisco, was felt all the way to little sea-side San Diego.
March 10, 1933 - The Long Beach earthquake, estimated to be a 6.4 magnitude, killed 120 or more in So. California. No deaths or damage were reported in San Diego.
Nov. 23, l987 - A 6.2 shake jolted San Diego at 5:54 p.m. It was followed by a 6.3 quake at 5:16 the next morning. Two people died in nearby Imperial County.
Jan. 17, l994 - The 6.6 Northridge earthquake rocked Southern California, collapsing freeways in Los Angeles, killing at least 16 people.
June 14, 2005 - A 7.2 earthquake struck about 90 miles off the coast of Northern California, briefly prompting a tsunami warning along the Pacific Coast.
But, of course, outsiders like to say: JUST WAIT - THE BIG ONE’S COMING!