I see some pretty ugly political stuff regarding this disaster on some other boards, and I can't help myself - I have to jump in and remind people that compassion doesn't wear a label on who you voted for or what God you believe in.

One of the first things I did after the quake ( after my red cross Haiti-specific donation) was to call my family in the SF Bay Area. "how good are your earthquake preparations REALLY?" It's irrelevant how stable the USGS maps say your portion of Oakland or Berkeley is...Granted, when the Big One hits, it won't be quite as bad as what Haiti has experienced, but I wouldn't be surprised that it is very, very bad despite everyone bolting their hot water heaters to the wall and retrofitting thier foundations. I was there for Loma Prieta, and have some friend who had very close calls both on the Bay Bridge and the Embarcadero.