Why do you think major earthquakes are more destructive now compared to those which occurred 100 years ago?
Earthquakes aren’t any more powerful than they were 100 years ago, or 1000 years ago. If earthquake strength is going to change, it’s going to be over a geologic time scale, not a century. Look back at how devastating the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake was. That was worse than the Northridge earthquake, which people considered big. Some might argue that earthquakes are more destructive than 100 years ago because our cities have expanded. That’s possible. If you have more things to destroy, you have a better chance of destroying things. But if you’re going to do that, you need to be fair, and look at the ratio of damage to structural survival, and compare it against historic earthquakes. Our structures – even if there are more of them – are better designed, and better built, to handle seismic events with a far better chance of survival. If I were going to enter into a long debate right here, I could list a number of very good reasons why things are definitely not worse. Instead, I’ll jus
