Earthquakes can cause dramatic changes in geography, culture, and economies. The humongous 9.4 quake that jolted Los Angeles on March 15 changed the 'City of Angels' forever. One noticeable immediate effect had to do with the metropolitan population of the entire Los Angeles County region. Still unable to provide an accurate count, County coroners knew that hundreds of thousands - perhaps more than a million - had perished. Because there was suddenly no viable means of earning a living, many illegal immigrants who survived the disaster were heading back across the border, going back to Mexico where - at least - they were not living in squalor among the streets of L.A. Everything had been obliterated, from the most impoverished slums to the most elegant million-dollar mansions. The downtown district was leveled. More than two weeks after the quake, bodies were still being pulled fromthe rubble, and the stench of death was overwhelming the city. The mayor had declared martial law, ordering police to shoot looters on sight and "ask questions later". Stores had been demolished so completely, it was rare that looters could actually access the buildings to get at merchandise or food anyway. Everything had been destroyed. The 1994 Northbridge, California earthquake had created an estimated $40 billion worth of property damage; estimates of damage in this 2008 quake were conservatively being projected to top $400 billion, though some experts were predicting in excess of a trillion dollars in damages.
Gone were all the movie studios and Hollywood attractions. L.A.'s freeway system was nothing more than leveled ribbons of crumpled concrete, unable to accommodate any mode of transportation. Most cars were destroyed anyway, as was the LAX airport, the relatively new L.A. public transit system, and most city buses.
Much like the bomb blasts that rocked L.A. and other cities in January, earthquakes radiated destruction as seismic waves burst from the underground hypocenter. A "P" wave is a fast wave generated by a fault rupturing. Compression stretches rock, and a quake's immediate 'punch' is felt. "S" waves, much slower but usually more powerful, follow, ripping buildings and highways into rubble as the earth below them turns to the consistency of quicksand. Scientists who were studying the results of the quake were moot, but feared for the worst: among themselves, they worried that another quake of similar magnitude could strike at any moment. It seemed redundant to warn the public about such unfounded fears while people were still reeling from the current tragedy.
As with Hurricane Katrina just three years earlier in New Orleans, construction safeguards and so-called government protections were woefully inadequate. Government agencies were terribly underprepared. Pompous officials, who bragged about the safety and security of the programs they had spent millions of taxpayers dollars to implement, were strangely silent as they looked on in horror to see the havoc that had been inflicted. It was clearly obvious that no amount of government money or effort could stand up to the forces of Mother Nature. That, in turn, made it clearly obvious that most of the things government did was unecessary and useless. It was all blind promises that politicians could make, under the assumption that they'd never have to 'prove' they were right or wrong. No one was safe from natural disasters. No one was safe from man-made bombs that could be detonated with a simple cell phone. Technology was man's nemesis.
Elected officials seized hundreds of billions of dollars from taxpayers to make them feel safe and secure. It now was evident that it was all a scam. Man must recognize that he has to live with risk.