NATHAN GILLES, STOP TRYING TO KILL ME.

You sound like you haven't been on the West Coast very long. Earthquakes happen. They are scary, I've been through a couple pretty big ones. But I don't worry about it all day long. If it is eating you up inside, you need to move somewhere more stable.

If a 9.0 hits, the Feds will respond, not the state. The state can't tie its shoes. But I agree with you that any one whose first reaction is "how is the government going to take care of my immediate needs?" is screwed.

The state can't tie its shoes, but the feds can, Blabby? Right. Uh huh.

No, but the Feds can print money. And they have an existing department, FEMA, that no matter how competent/incompetent they may be, are permanently tasked and staffed to handle these things.

And in emergencies, they generally just hand the money to people who can tie shoes. After the Seattle quake, they were going door to door, saying "looks like a foundation crack" or "I'm worried about your chimney" and cut a check right there.

This is why I keep my wife and fifty pounds of freeze-dried poutine with me at all times.

This is why I live in a dirigible. Y'all suckers with your earth-stuck houses are just screwed.

Omg this conversation is like, so last year. *yawn*

FEMA, the agency who led the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy.

Whosoever says "well, I've been thru a few big ones, I guess you haven't been on the west coast long" really doesn't understand that there is a vast difference between a 7.0 and a 9.0. There will be catastrophe on a scale not seen in industrialized America.

I bet Canadian Forces will be providing aid before the US Government gets itself together.

Remember to keep a few boxed cases of booze in a secure location, you're going to need crucial survival supplies for weeks to come. Plastic bottles don't break so easily and can be used for barter. Keep the good stuff for your friends when they bring things over.

Wow! Pretty much all of you completely missed the point.

I thought you would have been smart enough to go for two cookies, not one. It’s a shame.

But you did prove me right. I guess that’s something. It's cold comfort given that we’re all in this together, but I’ll take it.

And for the record, I'm not worried about earthquakes. In fact I’m well into the “acceptance” stage of the grieving process (hint, the process starts with denial).

I've also done practically nothing to prepare for the big quake. I'm not a survivalist. I hoard nothing. And the last thing I want to do is spend my weekends getting emergency training when I could just sit back and drink a beer. Actually, the last thing I want is to live in a world run by freaky survivalists, hence this plea for sanity.

My preparation, such as it is, is just to report the facts, scare the shit out our readers (because it’s fun!), and from time to time call you out for not thinking through the problem.

BOOR-ING

@ Showstopper:

Dude, you've got it all figured out, don't you? Just quit typing -- you're just showing your ignorance and spilling your dignity all over the place.