The Big One, by Jeffrey Veen

The Big One

Living in San Francisco means living with the assumption that the ground may start shaking at any moment. I live in a building made of giant steel girders bolted into the bedrock at the top of a hill. Comforting, sure. But even so, a hundred years ago and three blocks away, my neighborhood looked like this.

This entry was written by Jeffrey Veen and posted 2 June 2005 at 8:20 AM. It was filed under Personal. | View blog reactions

Comments

1. On 2 June 2005 at 9:28 AM Buzz Andersen wrote:

Yeah, although a lot of that was the result of fire, and one would hope we'd be a little better equipped to deal with that today.

2. On 2 June 2005 at 11:18 PM David Robarts wrote:

Yeah, we do a lot better with fire these days, but my architectural engineering teachers say stronger isn't always better. Bedrock is good and steel is usually much better than concrete. Of course the building standing isn't the only thing - the building will move, but what happens to the things inside? The other question is where will you be when a big earthquake comes - you can't spend all your time at home.

3. On 25 June 2005 at 11:52 AM Charles wrote:

We live a couple blocks down the street from you, in a house made of *wood*, perched on top of a hill. The old Vic has been here since the 1880's, though, so we're hoping it will last through another shake-up.