I read an alarming report earlier this week that the scientists at Cal Tech now believe the San Andreas fault is even more ripe for a major earthquake than previously thought, and they already thought it was overdue. Not only that, but they now predict it would be even bigger than expected, an 8.1, which would make the Northridge quake in '94 seem like hitting a pothole by comparison. I'm thinking about it today because the dogs are acting really strange this morning. More so than normal. I think they know something.
You would think a major quake on the San Andreas would be a major concern here, seeing as how the fault lies just 50 miles south of town. But you'd be wrong.
The faultline is actually closer to Bako than it is to Downtown LA, yet in LA they seem keenly aware of the danger they face. Older buildings have been retrofitted and reinforced. Newer buildings are built on base isolators and other shock absorbers. Everywhere you look there are "in case of earthquake" directions. People stock up on emergency supplies and all the local stations run reports on the coming "Big One".
Here? Not so much.
Living in Bako it's hard to believe you actually still live in California. "Earthquakes you say? Never heard of 'em". There seems to be almost zero concern about the earth massively shifting beneath their feet. A few months ago I was chatting with some women I was working with and the subject turned to emergency earthquake supplies (why I have no idea). The women seemed completely dumbfounded, first they'd ever heard of such a thing. You would have thought I was talking about a hidden pot of gold in the garage. In the year we've lived her I can't recall ever hearing earthquakes mentioned on the local news, and yet every time a storm rolls through they will be quick to remind you that there's an infinitesimal chance, however unlikely, that we might just get a tornado! It hasn't happened in recorded history, but they really seem to want one.
And that's the thing about Bako. You really get the sense that a lot of people here resent the fact that their fair city rests in the Golden State, and not somewhere out in the Bible Belt where it obviously belongs. More than anything else, this place is really nothing more than "West Tulsa". Which probably explains their endless yearning for twisters.
But still, you would think they just might have a passing concern with the possibility of a quake, especially since it wasn't all that long ago (1952) that one almost wiped this place off the map. Or perhaps they might be a tad bit worried about the immense, shoddy dam that looms to the east, the one that even the Army Corps. of Engineers says will probably fail in a major quake, submerging Bako under 6 feet of water. But again, you'd be wrong.
Although perhaps I've misread the situation.
I've noticed that a lot of people here own boats. Maybe they are planning ahead after all.
