To be a bit worried about going to California, knowing that seismologists believe they are well overdue a big earthquake?

[ChocolateDoll]

It's probably silly, and obviously millions of people live there all the time.

I can't imagine though, what it must be like to live somewhere which we pretty much know is going to suffer a big earthquake at some point. We just have no real idea when.

Mind boggling really, but I can't help worrying about it as a holiday destination

YABU! If we worried about every place we want to visit/travel too then we'd never leave the house. Go and have fun it's a lovely place.

Yes, you are being unreasonable! We went to California a couple of years ago and had a fabulous time!

Where abouts in California are you going? If it's any comfort, I lived there for several years and they were going on about being "overdue an earthquake" back then - that was 15 years ago! They always talk about it but you can't let it stop you enjoying your life.

When are you going? What are your plans?

It's the overdue volcanic eruption at Yellowstone we should all be worried about.

YABU! I lived in Japan and the "overdue a big volcanic explosion" made me study lava and ash dispersion like I'd just landed a job as a volcanologist. That was 2002. They are still waiting...

We went 3 years ago and it was on my mind. Not enough to stop me having a fantastic holiday though. You can't put your life on hold for huge "what ifs".

You could be like my 'lucky' American friend: was in Paris during the terrorist attack; was in Brussels, in a hotel near the train station, at the time of the bombing; was on a train coming out of Barcelona 2 weeks ago; her kids' friends mostly live in Cambrils (and go to the International school).

Obviously totally freaked out, she made a snap decision to move back to Texas - Huston, to be precise.

Freakiest woman on Earth?

We were in California San Francisco area in 2010, not worried one bit. Read 'Earthquakes 101: What to Do if the Earth Moves for You' and enjoy a fabulous part of the world.

I'm probably not going to help you here, but when I was in California I wondered often if the ground was about to start shaking! I'm generally quite anxious though and needless to say it was totally fine. I did have a great time, but it was always at the back of my mind. It was strangely reassuring going to the Science Museum in San Francisco, they had an earthquake exhibit and part of it was notes written by visitors about their experiences of earthquakes. It made me realise that in the unlikely event there was one, I would probably be OK!

It's not exactly unreasonable to think you should be aware of and plan for about a massive earthquake that is expected at any time. But you need to put these things in perspective. You are far more likely to be killed in a car accident and it doesn't stop you using the roads, because though the risk is there. it's tiny. Even if there is a big earthquake while you're here (and it would need to be in a very small time frame to actually catch you here), it won't necessarily affect you at all. I was in Asia on vacation when the Tsunami hit, while it was obviously a shock and terrible tragedy for the area, we weren't personally adversely affected by it as we weren't in the localised places that were hit.

Since the last big earthquake in CA, they've implemented huge building code changes, lots of retrofitting, built in resilience etc. Even if you're in an affected area when it happens, it's possible that very little damage will occur and you'll just have a few days with disrupted transport/power/etc.

Ha. Reminds me of when I was student and boyfriend at time and I camping in tiny tent on Vesuvius. There was a storm in the night and we were terrified we were about to be Pompeii part II!

For anything 'bad' to happen to you there would need to be an earthquake AND you would need to be in a 'dangerous' place. Not saying it CAN'T happen but for both cases at the same time is very unlikely.

Do you generally suffer with anxiety? I have experienced two earthquakes in San Francisco.

Yes, it was scary but actually you are far more at risk every time you get in a car.......

I worried quite a bit about earthquakes a bit before my first visit to California in 2007. Predictably there were no earthquakes, just a massive forest fire all around LA that closed all the freeways and meant most of the outdoor events we planned to visit were cancelled.

(Been back 4 times since then - no earthquakes or repeat fires!) No point worrying OP...

I live in California and there are no warnings of earthquakes here. Where abouts are you going? x

I've been worrying about it since O level geography, but we're talking about geological time since due doesn't mean any day now ( hope I'm not tempting fate)

As soon as our plane touched down in LA there was an earthquake. Didn't really phase me as I knew it was pretty normal to have small tremors.
Planning a San Francisco trip next year, can't say it even enters my head. I'm fascinated by seismology and watch all the documentaries etc.
I feel life is too short to worry about something that in all probability won't happen.

What nuttynoo said, and my first thought when I saw this thread.