Yeah if I recall there was a big one in SF in or around 1990 that took out bridges and highways and started fires. Then I think it was 1994 or thereabouts a big one in Northridge (San Fernando Valley) that also took out highways and bridges. My house shook like mad and I had a roommate from NY who was screaming like crazy he had never experienced one before. But only thing that happened was my guitar which was propped against a wall slid over. Roommate wanted to go out for a drive to survey the neighborhood I told him it was a really bad idea. People go absolutely crazy, speed, run red lights etc after a quake. He came back 5 minutes later and said “you were right I should never have gotten in the car”.
But, it turned my 45 minute commute into a 4 hour commute, and then when they figured out how to make one-way roads to bypass the downed bridges it dropped to a 2 hour commute. But the good thing was they paid a bonus, I think it was $100,000 a day, to the builders for every day they could get the bridges done faster than their quoted lead time. Worked out well for everyone except the few who did die (one, a CHP officer was riding when the bridge collapsed under him) and one who was under another bridge when it came down.
If we’re lucky a couple of “small” quakes to relieve the pressure and avoid the big one. But they are unavoidable. The tectonic plates are moving whether we like it or not.
Earthquake stories abound. I was going to have lunch with a friend downtown when he called and said he had to get back to the office in Emeryville. He got there just in time to ask his secretary to stay a minute late and Xerox some papers for him. She might have been dead on one of those bridges that came down.—she was one car behind those killed.
Nice to live in Western WA where the worst problem is fire. Bad enough.