Looking to Avoid Disasters?

As a resident of Los Angeles county and doing what I do, I probably spend more time on the subject of "oh my god, what if there was an earthquake right now?!" than most. It's not the healthiest of things but having seen the terrible power and destruction force that's unleashed when the ground shakes, I feel justified in my paranoia.

Recently I traveled to the Pacific Northwest and came to the realization that I'm not white knuckling the steering wheel for fear of the San Andreas sending Southern California careening into the Ocean. Yes there are threats up there: lots of rain, anyone remember this?, fires, and don't forget about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a fault line lurking off the coast of the Pacific Northwest that has inspired news articles and movies alike...but it got me thinking...where are the safest places in the US and where are the most disaster-prone?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/01/weekinreview/01safe.html?hp

The NY Times ran what appears to be one of the more comprehensive yet easy to understand graphics illustrating where the hotspots are and where it's nice and quiet. And since its publishing there have been more debates and more events that may change the data somewhat, but overall I would say that much of the information is still valid.

However, if charts and maps aren't doing it for you and you have a few minutes may I suggest you check out Outside Magazine's article "Totally Psyched for the Full Nine Rip." Some call it disaster-porn and others take a more reserved approach in their view of it; I say that regardless of your feelings on the content, even though this article is a tad dated, it always sparks conversation around the what if scenarios it presents...and anything that gets people talking about personal preparedness and what they'd do is a good thing.

And I leave you with this, one of the most explosive film trailers in recent memory, Jeff Bridge's Brother and one of the guys from Psych in: 10.5...