[stormer]

Far more people have been killed worldwide in EQs than in tornadoes. Earthquakes have been responsible for the destruction of whole societies, and the potential worst case scenario in an earthquake dwarfs the most violent, long lived tornado.

[!1776!]

Earthquakes have been responsible for the destruction of whole societies, and the potential worst case scenario in an earthquake dwarfs the most violent, long lived tornado.

Completely agreed - most people just don't understand geologic timescales...

1556 - China - 830,000 dead; 1976 - China - 242,000 dead; etc., etc.

[dragnet2]

Far more people have been killed worldwide in EQs than in tornadoes.

Not what I said. I said the in the U.S.

Floods, tornadoes and hurricanes kill *many* more every year in the U.S. than earthquakes.

In fact I believe tornadoes alone kill more every year in the U.S. than earthquakes.

[OrangeHoof]

I have no numbers yet I don’t doubt that earthquakes have killed more than tornadoes worldwide due to lax building codes in certain parts of the world and the few tornadoes that occur outside the central and eastern U.S.

In America, though, I think tornadoes are the deadlier force. Tornadoes rarely kill hundreds but they kill small pockets in a cluster of storms year after year on a rather steady basis. While man has built structures that limit earthquake damage, nobody has yet designed a building to limit tornado damage.