Living Good Life, With Eye On Ground
San Fran Marks Date Of Great Quake Amid Predictions Of Another
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Play CBS Video Video Bracing For Another Big Quake As San Francisco reflects on the earthquake that leveled the city 100 years ago on April 18, 1906, experts say a similar quake of that size could happen again. Rene Syler reports.
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Video S.F. Mayor On Future Quakes Mayor Gavin Newsom speaks to Rene Syler about the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and if the city is prepared for a next disaster.
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Video San Francisco In Jell-O Rene Syler reports from San Francisco on the anniversary of the massive earthquake that struck 100 years ago. She talks with Jell-O artist Liz Hicock, who's commemorating San Francisco in her own way.
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A section of San Francisco, looking east across Grant Avenue toward Yerba Buena Island, shows the ravages of the great earthquake that struck Wednesday, April 18, 1906. (AP (file))
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Houses lean at odd angles on Howard Street near 17th Street in San Francisco following the disastrous earthquake April 18, 1906. (AP (file))
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Interactive Ground Shakers Learn about what triggers an earthquake and get details on some of the world's worst.
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Interactive Natural Disasters Discover how Earth is battered from the sky by hurricanes, tornadoes and cyclones as volcanoes and earthquakes rumble from below.
But many San Franciscans say there's no reason to live in fear.
One said to Syler, "I figure I'll do what everybody else did from the '89 one, you know, hope for the best and, you know, move from there."
Remarked another: "It's a crapshoot. It's like walking the streets of Manhattan. You know that any moment, you can get mugged, but it's not going to stop you from walking the streets."
"This is a beautiful, beautiful city," observes Winchester. "It's very easy to get lulled into a sense of complacency. … Californians do, all too often, think it's far easier to pour a glass of white wine, stare at the sunset, and think what a wonderful place this is to live. It's wonderful, but it comes at a price."
But Jerry Dodson of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society says, "I don't think we're living in denial. We know it's here. But we know, if we build things properly, we'll be able to survive another earthquake, just as we survived the quake of '89."
"The pictures are scary," concedes Corey Keller, an assistant curator with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "One hopes that … the kinds of problems they had in 1906 won't happen again. But that's the price we pay, I guess, for living in the most beautiful part of the world."
The problem, explains Syler, is that, while geologists can say where a dangerous quake may occur, they can't say when.
Says Winchester, "We're really no nearer predicting earthquakes than we were 50 years ago. … We know a great deal more about them, why they happen, but as to whether we can forecast them, it doesn't look very good."
So now, concludes Syler, as San Francisco looks back at how the city's good life 100 years ago suddenly turned to horror, there's another generation living the good life, but keeping a wary eye on the ground.
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