Hi Todd. It may not be a case of denial. A couple of years ago when Petra and I attended the AGU in San Francisco we asked a number of seismologist what they would do if a large quake struck at that very moment. We got a lot of answers, but not one said “duck, cover and hold.” Most said they would get out of the building as fast as they could. Some even said they really didn’t know what they would do.

One would think that a seismologist should know what to do, but now many seismologists have ever been in a major quake? I know of a geophysicist whose prime interest is earthquakes has never felt an earthquake in his whole life and he has been around for a long time.

It is true that there are a good number of people who never give earthquakes any thought. In the Bay Area only about 40% of the people say they are ready for a major quake. I would be willing to bet that at least half of those are not really prepared for the next major quake. Then again maybe you are right. It may be a nothing more then denial. They know it can happen, but hope it won’t be in their lifetime. Take Care…Don in creepy town