Earthquakes Top The List Of Fears For Bay Area Residents
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – As we move into wildfire season, a new poll out finds there's one natural disaster that Californians fear even more: earthquakes.
Maybe its the heightened awareness of natural disasters around the world, but the latest Field Poll finds 57 percent of Californians fear earthquakes, more than twice those that cited wildfires. In the Bay Area, 76 percent of those surveyed listed quakes, while only 10 percent chose fires.
Pollster Mark DiCamillo said they also asked people when they thought the next big quake was coming.
KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:
"Most people believe that it would likely occur within the next 10 years, 56 percent are saying that. That's actually an increase from the last time we asked that five years ago, when 40 percent said that a major earthquake would likely occur within the next decade," said DiCamillo.
However, this doesn't mean we're any better prepared. In fact, a federal report out this week finds a massive quake on the lower half of the San Andreas fault would impact 430,000 businesses and 4.3 million workers in the Southland alone. This could have ripple effects nationwide since two of the biggest ports in the nations are located in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
