How Do You Overcome Anxiety About Earthquakes? (Seattle, Bellevue: homes, construction)

[Thom52]

Earthquake anxiety? Meh, that is why they legalized pot, to take care of that.

You need to live your life in the present....but pack a good bug out kit.

I am blown away by people in parts of the country not understanding how we live with the occasional earthquake while they put up with YEARLY hurricanes, tornados, massive flooding.....heck, there is always a downside to any place you live.

I have lived in earthquake zones my entire life. My youth was in the Bay Area, where I experienced a number of quakes. My adulthood was in Seattle area where I watched a crack grow during a quake in a stairwell where I was working....and a few other incidents. Retirement finds me in Central Oregon where threat of quakes is almost zero and besides wildfires every summer, there are not many natural dangers....as long as the Yellowstone Caldera doesn't blow.....always sumthin'

[BjorntheCold]

Just don't live somewhere stupid: on a cliff overlooking the sound, beneath a slope, or in an area that might be struck by a localized tsunami generated by collapses of said slopes into the water. Also avoid-lahar-prone zones, and don't live or work in an unreinforced masonry building.

Most people die during major disasters because they didn't take the potential for said disaster into account. If you do even the smallest amount of research and preparedness work, you are already ahead of 90 percent of the people living here.

[dav51lin]

lived here since 1979 one earthquake i felt that i thought this could be a big one in the is all i ever remember in the 80s 90s
i think

[Bluefox]

Biggest risk at the moment is a megathrust earthquake offshore, which will undoubtedly damage many buildings in Washington and Oregon, but more importantly will inflict a devastating tsunami in certain coastal areas not unlike what Japan experienced in 2011 during the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

I had some anxiety myself but I manage it by avoiding brick buildings (not that wood frames are earthquake proof) and I live far enough away from the coast that I won’t be swallowed by the impending tsunami. Edited to add: actually, since I’ve moved to Edmonds, I don’t know that I’d be spared. Even though I’m a bit inland, I’m still in a low-lying area so I might actually be screwed.

The offshore Cascadia Subduction Zone does really concern me because we are within the window of time that the Juan de Fuca plate is going to slip again. But my bigger concern is going to be the infrastructure damage and the hardship that will occur weeks and months afterward.

I’d be more concerned for the immediate safety of people living somewhere like Seaside OR, and other places that will likely take a direct hit.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by PhxGirl5

Hey guys, I just read all of your replies and they really did help me! I tried to thank all of you, (am very grateful) but it said I gave some of you reputation already and that I needed to gain more before I could give you another one ...but thanks so much!

I specifically enjoyed reading your experiences with earthquakes in California/Getting through the Nisqually quake. It also eased my spirits when Derek brought up health issues and other life situations that could keep me on edge rather than an earthquake that occurs every ___ years.

I lived in Oklahoma and Florida from more than 15 years and gone through hurricanes and tornadoes.

How ridiculous anxiety can be..

Now you're catching on. Anxiety can be irrational. Depending on the nature of it, you can talk yourself down from it, with rational thought. It's interesting, that you lived in areas that had high-level disaster risk annually, but it was the potential for a type of disaster you were unfamiliar with, that pushed your buttons. Congrats on successfully addressing your concerns.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Returning2USA

Have Quake insurance and know what actions to take in the event of a Quake.

Worries won't change anything.

It's mental, IMO.

Best of luck.

Does WA have standards for the seismic retrofitting of homes? Have people done that at all? After the last big quake in the Bay Area, the one that damaged the Bay Bridge and a freeway, people retrofitted their homes. That's something people could add to their "to do" list.

[pnwguy2]

I’ve told this story before but on April 29th 1965 I was still 5 years old. The earthquake was a large one at 6.7. That morning I was at another kids house as my parents thought walking to school with classmates was safer. This boy’s parents collected Greek plates and decorated their home with them. The one thing I distinctly remember is how those plates rattled and rolled with the quake.

Later at school we practiced escape procedures from the then 50 year old brick Ravenna elementary in the Roosevelt district of north Seattle. (Today I’m sure school would have been canceled, it was a different era for sure).

Later that evening my parents of course were watching the news on their favorite station KING TV. When they got to the weather the weatherman used an easel to write temps on it. So they cut to him and he has picked up his easel and shaking it violently. My 5 your old self found this quite amusing.

[rantiquity]

Originally Posted by PhxGirl5

Hey guys..

I currently live in Bellevue & lately, I've been really having some serious anxiety about a huge earthquake hitting here during my lifetime. (.. especially sometime soon..)

I've read that people who have been here awhile don't "worry" about earthquakes because it doesn't cross their minds. However, when it does, how do you keep anxiety over it at bay?

I've tried to rationalize things such as "everybody's gonna go somehow and someday" but that doesn't work. I think what's scaring me is the experience itself, not necessarily a possible death. I keep thinking my apartment will collapse and the people above me will be in my room by the time it's all over ...or that one of these huge monster trees are gonna come crashing through the patio door.

I'd like to get a separate opinion or another idea about this from someone else so I can ease my worries.

I worry more inflation, gas prices, crime and the border that are happening right now instead of an earthquake that may effect me or not.

[CARas2020]

Originally Posted by PhxGirl5

Hey guys..

I currently live in Bellevue & lately, I've been really having some serious anxiety about a huge earthquake hitting here during my lifetime. (.. especially sometime soon..)

I've read that people who have been here awhile don't "worry" about earthquakes because it doesn't cross their minds. However, when it does, how do you keep anxiety over it at bay?

I've tried to rationalize things such as "everybody's gonna go somehow and someday" but that doesn't work. I think what's scaring me is the experience itself, not necessarily a possible death. I keep thinking my apartment will collapse and the people above me will be in my room by the time it's all over ...or that one of these huge monster trees are gonna come crashing through the patio door.

I'd like to get a separate opinion or another idea about this from someone else so I can ease my worries.

I take Lorazepam. I have panic attacks but not over the impending gloom of a huge earthquake.

Being prepared helps me. I have enough food for well more than three days. Next time we hit Costco I'll get our bottled water. I have everything else I need.

[CARas2020]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Now you're catching on. Anxiety can be irrational. Depending on the nature of it, you can talk yourself down from it, with rational thought. It's interesting, that you lived in areas that had high-level disaster risk annually, but it was the potential for a type of disaster you were unfamiliar with, that pushed your buttons. Congrats on successfully addressing your concerns.

YES!! Anxiety can be so unreasonable. I get panic attacks. I think the worse one was when I was alone in Minneapolis. I wanted to go to a baseball game so my hubby and daughter didn't feel like it. I rode the light rail from Bloomington to downtown. That was fine. I watched the game all fun very enjoyable for me. But on the way back to our hotel I got so anxious I was hyperventilating. A very nice local lady helped me out by sitting next to me and talking to me. It helped calm me down. I called my husband and he drove to the stop and picked me up.

I had heard people in Minnesota are nice.