[Bern]

I can vouch for the Californians contempt for quakes.


I was in LA sometime during the nineties when a 5.5 hit. I was working in a tower block near the airport and the building shook. The locals comments was "Wow that was a big one" and then they all just carried on with there work, with the one piece of advice "Restrict all phone calls to a minimum, so as not to impede the emergency services". The reaction was so low key that I forgot about it.

When I got back to the hotel that evening my wife was ready to pack up and go home. She'd been subjected to the endless 'public info bulletins' on the TV and then the News broadcasts showing the damage, which was quite substantial, and was at the end of her tether.

Next day, there was a booth set up outside the hotel with a guy selling T-shirts with the logo "I survived a 5.5".

When we got home all our families interogated us about the whole experience because it was a big news story in the UK. But for me, there was nothing to relate, the local attitude had dulled any potential worry, concern or excitement about the whole thing.

When I saw the results on the TV it was like looking at something on the other side of the world and yet it was only a few miles away.

rgds