Earthquake help- send direct, do not text

[Irulan]

I think we need to be careful spreading that sort of rumor, considering what happened after Katrina. Even if it's reported by a major news organization, it may not be true (as turned out with so many of the stories of post-Katrina violence). Neither the American Red Cross nor the ICRC has anything of the sort on their websites as of this morning.

Agree. This is a really good time to verify anything you hear with snopes, a good google search etc.

[Trek420]

+1. This is a time to also ask myself "self? If I was suddenly homeless, no food, water, maybe I'm injured and in need of medical care for myself, neighbors and loved ones, the stench and sounds of death everywhere, little help on the way and we're still having aftershocks .... how calm and civilized would I be? "

I don't mean to make light of it but on Sunday the waiter forgot my coffee at brunch. Things almost got ugly We are so lucky here and this could be any of us.

[Irulan]

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.

[Trek420]

...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 ....

We're overdue for an 8 and Haiti was a 7 sumthin. That's 10 x's worse regardless of how bolted your house is.

But more important although our buildings might be better here we're a lot more highly populated.