<p>^^ Well, he never said he was considering turning down UCB because of earthquakes.
He asked if UCB was prepared for such situation, i think that’s a fair question to ask.
Besides, I dont see how can someone be an idiot just because he or she is afraid of earthquakes.</p>
<p>Hmm, I think it should be relatively safe, I live really near to Berkeley and the buildings are earthquake safe (wrong wording but yeah). To be honest, disaster can strike anywhere so yeah.</p>
<p>santabanta: Do not call people ididots because they feel differently than you do. Shame!!</p>
<p>Folks, I lived in Northridge in 1994 during the 6.7 Northridge earthquake. It was quite scary and ground shaking was intense.</p>
<p>Berkeley is sitting on a ticking time bomb, but so is most of California.<br>
Fortunately, Berkeley is seismically retrofiting the buildings and a lot of them have been retrofitted over the last 10 years. Do a search on the Berkeley website for the “SAFER” program.</p>
<p>Memorial Stadium is seismically poor, and the Hayward fault bisects the stadium. It’s important that Cal get the stadium upgraded soon. Unfortunately, the renovation plans have been tied up in court over 2 years.
The good thing is that it is an open air stadium…there is little risk of things falling on you. But, if a large earthquake were to occur during a game, it could be quite damaging…I believe the fault is a “strike/slip” fault…so one half the stadium would be shifted north while the other half would be shifted south. IMO, the student section (east side) of the stadium is much more safer since its built into the hill…the west side of the stadium (with the large wall and press box) would be where I’d be more concerned.</p>
<p>The key, though, would be to remain calm and hunker down between the bench seats…unforunately large gatherings and surprise events don’t mix…people tend to panic.</p>
<p>now <em>i</em> feel paranoid lol!</p>
<p>I agree with UCB post #24…until you have actually felt a truly big earthquake you have no idea how frightening it can be (Holla08)…little quakes don’t count. Common sense goes far in an earthquake. Most native Californians know the drill…most profs at UCB I would think have been well versed in the ‘what to do’s’ if one strikes during class. No one, and I repeat NO ONE is going to stop going to Bezerkely EVEN AFTER the BIG ONE hits. Look at CSU Northridge which was decimated during the Northridge quake…they are not exactly lacking for students these days and they don’t have 1/10th the reputation that Cal has.</p>
<p>I have lived through both the 1989 earthquake (one of my earliest memories) and the northridge quake (when i happened to be visiting disneyland, what luck i know). an earthquake of that magnitude is certainly a very scary event, but like said before common sense goes a long way and growing up in northern california certainly teaches you the drill. if you are in section ZZ at memorial when a quake hits, you are instructed to run on the field (they make an announcement about this before every game). you certainly want to be in an open area where nothing can fall on you in the event of a quake. the worst parts of the bay area you can be in are parts of west oakland and san francisco that have been built on land falls and where the shaking of the quake will greatly intensify (thank you professor richard muller!)</p>
<p>Here are some earthquake videos made by some Cal students. The second one is a better representation of Berkeley, but the first one has tips everyone should know (the earthquakes they show are frightening). </p>
<p>[Berkeley</a> Earthquake Awareness Review](<a href=“http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8728359440961037718&q=berkeley+earthquake&ei=dYgSSJTXG4-WrgOR5ZDZBA&hl=en]Berkeley”>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8728359440961037718&q=berkeley+earthquake&ei=dYgSSJTXG4-WrgOR5ZDZBA&hl=en)</p>
<p>[Earthquake</a> Preparedness at UC Berkeley](<a href=“http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8813458995296272170&q=berkeley+earthquake&ei=dYgSSJTXG4-WrgOR5ZDZBA&hl=en]Earthquake”>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8813458995296272170&q=berkeley+earthquake&ei=dYgSSJTXG4-WrgOR5ZDZBA&hl=en)</p>
<p>the largest earthquake ive faced was 6.8, and that was a crazy rodeo ride, but surpisingly, nothing was seriously damaged (some of the bridges has small cracks tho)</p>
<p>bridges with cracks… uhh I’ll take the BART</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And go *underneath *the bay?</p>
<p>BART was the only thing running after the Loma Prieta 1989 Earthquake for quite a while…It’s safe.</p>
<p>Buut
Loma Prieta Earthquake —> San Andreas Fault
I think the Hayward Fault intersects a BART tunnel soo I’m pretty sure that BART will not be running if there is a major earthquake on the Hayward Fault.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t think so…San Andreas is in Pacific Ocean pass the Golden Gate and Hayward stays on the East Bay and cuts through Berkeley…I’m sure some fault crisscrosses the transbay tube, but I don’t think it’s one of these major faults.</p>
<p>That being said, any major quake in the Bay Area has the potential to damage the BART system.</p>
<p>“The Association of Bay Area Governments estimates 155,000 homes would be rendered uninhabitable by a 7.0 quake on the Hayward fault. And some of the six major commuting routes – Interstates 80, 238, 580 and 680, Highway 24, and the BART [Berkeley hills] tunnel – and 500 smaller roads crossing the fault would likely sustain some damage.” </p>
<p>[Virtual</a> Hayward fault tour promises to shake things up](<a href=“http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20060310/ai_n16141057]Virtual”>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20060310/ai_n16141057)</p>