We have been lucky. Our biggest events have hit outside major population centers or major infrastructures. I assume some day we will get smacked. Every body back home in Kansas said we were crazy for going to CA and all the quakes. I sure don’t miss the tornados.
“I sure don’t miss the tornados.”
You are probably saying that in jest. I really doubt if 95% of those living in Kansas or Oklahoma have even seen a tornado.
Risk = propability of a disaster hitting you * impact of the disaster
Tornadoes do not go the same tract every year ... so, even if there are tornadoes going through your town every couple of years, they rarely actually impact you. Even if we assume that the probability of tornado hitting you is greater than the earthquake hitting you, the impact of tornadoes is very minimal. Earthquakes affect at the macro-level. And they are unpredictable. There is no escaping the earthquake.
Tornadoes, on the other hand, can easily be escaped by going into the shelter. Beside that, there is ample warning with a tornado. You get tornado warning some 15-30 minutes before hand. And tornado conditions are discussed days in advanced. Those that heed the warnings and are prepared, they do not usually die from tornadoes. Homes and properties are all insured, so they can be replaced quite easily.
Sorry for my rant, but I just want to make sure that the hype of tornadoes is just a hype. Those are are prepared, like everything in life, can easily escape tornado. You just have to be weather aware in spring time and have a plan in place in case there is a warning.
I don’t know which would be easiest to survive, an earthquake, a tornado, a massive forest fire or a hurricane. I guess I’ll take a hurricane since I live on the Texas Gulf coast and I really don’t want to move.