A couple of weeks ago earthquakes rattled Southern California. In fact, roughly a dozen shook the Southern California area, causing me to rush to the local grocery store in order to buy a few emergency supplies. Everybody should consider doing the same, or joining an Emergency Response Team.
Though nobody died, with the strongest of these earthquakes registering at 5.3, and though no buildings or bridges collapsed, like during the 1989 earthquake that dropped the upper level of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and Oakland, there’s one certainty: more earthquakes are coming. Yes, it’s a scary part of life in Southern California, especially with “The Big One” long overdue.
For all those unfamiliar with the tern “The Big One,” I am, of course, referring to a hypothesized but unavoidable earthquake that will one day occur along the San Andreas Fault. Geophysicists claim the power of this fault’s movements will eventually cause an earthquake, so powerful, that it will destroy all of Southern California and Orange County, making past earthquakes from history, such as the 1906 demon that crumbled San Francisco and the 1933 monster that squashed Long Beach and flattened Long Beach Wilson High – my alma mater – seem like a walk in the park.
So, I suggest we all take preparations to anticipate “The Big One.”
After all, there are signs of its coming. Last week, a mysterious sulfuric odor spread through Orange County and San Diego County, making these regions smell like a public bathroom. Also, a handful of apocalyptic preachers and the History Channel believe the world will end in 2012.
I wish I could offer suggestions to survive an earthquake of this magnitude. At least with tornados, you can see them coming, and hide in a basement. With an earthquake, on the other hand, the only way to avoid one is to move out of California.
However, it’s better to live in a landlocked community, like Cypress. For starters, there’s no danger of a tsunami wiping out downtown Anaheim. True, the odds of one swallowing Seal Beach or Huntington Beach remain highly unlikely, and a breakwater actually protects Long Beach’s shores from this type of threat. However, with the number of natural disasters on the rise around the world, and with global warming threatening to melt the polar ice caps, it’s just a matter of time before all of the beach cities along the Southern California coast become submerged.
In fact, real estate speculators might want to invest in property along Valley View Street and Lincoln Avenue. If the “The Big One” ever shakes this region, Cypress, Buena Park and Anaheim will turn into beach resorts by default. After all, scientists believe this earthquake’s wrath will break away part of the coast, making cities like Seal Beach and Huntington Beach island neighbors to Santa Catalina Island.