Hi Todd,

You said "Even though the article said this year was higher than normal, so many more people in the US alone will die from Aids, car accidents and Cancer."

And you were right. But something historical has occurred in regard to these deaths and its called social consciousness. Thirty years ago not very many people knew about AIDS and hardly anyone knew how to prevent themselves from getting it. Today it would be hard to find any adult who does not know of its existence or the facts about prevention.

As to car accidents, something important occurred here as well. Due to Candy Lightner, who lost her daughter at age 11 due to a drunk driver, she formed MADD and in time legislation all over America changed and it is no longer acceptable to drive drunk, which has reduced the death tolls from these kinds of causes dramatically.

Cancer to has taken great strides in prevention and some cures. But here I can tell you recently of two cases that should have been detected and weren't. I have a good friend of many years who complained to her doctor for four years of a pain in her abdomen. He ignored her and blamed her problems on weight gain. Last year she had a 22 pound tumer removed and they give her an life expectancy of 6 years. The other died in November. She had been going to the doctor and was in the hospital as well for heart problems and thyroid. She developed an abdominal pain and her husband took her to the doctor. She had pancreatic cancer. She was put on morphine and died two days later. While there is such an emphasis on early detection, obviously not all medical practitioners are as through as they should be.

So the path leads us back to deaths from earthquakes. Yes buildings need to be retrofitted to prevent most deaths, and we all know funds are limited in this direction, so in underdeveloped countries no great strides can be made. But what about public education? Everyone of the above has had a lot of public education, but not so in regard to earthquakes.

When was the last time anyone here saw a PSA on earthquake preparedness? What does the USGS say about the Bay Area? They expect a 7.0 earthquake in the Bay Area before 2030. In this we have an automatic mental picture that its not going to happen soon, so how can you motivate the public to prepare if it sounds like its nearly 30 years away? Only one way. Teach them that is might not be that far away and keep saying it until the next quake arrives. Some will act, but only few. In this we need a change in social consciousness at a higher level and lots of PSA's.

But in all of these situations we have to remember, if that one person who is lost is a member of your family, a close friend, or someone you work with, the loss is personal, not just a number in a tally sheet.

Petra