<p>I was born in Newyork and lived on long island until i was 9. I am now 15 and have lived in thousand oaks california (about 45min from of caltech) for the past 6 years. I have been through 3 earthquakes, all small. The worst damage was a picture fell off our table in one, and we had to tape the back of the frame a little. Thats it. In socal we have a very extensive study into earthquakes in our science classes. From what ive learned over the years, there are patterns to actually predict an earthquake, but never to an exact date. It seems, that your dad is right but also wrong. We ARE overdue for a major earthquake (6.0-9.0 richter) BUT with so much tectonic action taking place on the pacific plate over the years its possible that we may not have an earthquake for many many years. While some say the 94 quake was our big one (6.2 i belive) it may have been minor as it was on a subsidary of the san andreas fault and the earth quake was a blind thrust fault. So my theory and what many seem to say is most likely the case : we will have a large earth quake in the next 20 years but chances are it will be based closer to san fransico than socal.
Dont worry about earth quakes just do 3 things.</p>
<p>1) Keep plenty of provisions in your dorm/house at ALL times. Espically water bottles. </p>
<p>2) If you live off campus buy a house LESS than 15 (5 if you can) years old. These houses have fireproof rooves and in many cases walls, because in california we have a fire season (fall) and earthquakes can cause fires.</p>
<p>3) DONT leave anything heavy near where you sleep, on a unsturdy object, or on small tables (or other type of overhang) unless you want to hurt yourself or your item.</p>
<p>I also recomend you give your room plenty of space INCASE of a major earthquake because most furniture will fall over and youll need a way to escape AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE.</p>
<p>*** In NY they dont teach drills like this obviously but in california in case of earthquake you
- Detect earthquake via alarm (in some buildings) or if no alarm youll feel it.
- Get under a sturdy object (if in class get under desk) and hold the leg to it down and close to your body.
- When the earthquakes STOPS leave the building and wait for possible aftershocks (as short as five minutes to about 1 month (usually less than a day)
- The rest of the ordeal will be controlled by local authorites.</p>
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Also as to questions about travel, plane rides between jfk and lax are horrible. To many delays. If possible take your LOCAL airport on a good airline (recomend jetblue) to burbank. Burbank is small, easy to navigate, and there is little traffic there. Plane rides get boaring but are a good time to study or relax.</p>