Our Landslides Are Bigger Than Yours

What the Entire World Can Learn From California’s Penchant for Disaster—And Ability to Recover From It

When I was a graduate student at Caltech in the 1960s, my boyfriend and I loved to take a spin up the spectacular, cliff-hanging California Highway 39 that ascends in a 30-mile stretch from Azusa to the crest of the San Gabriel Mountains. He had a green Porsche Speedster, fully capable of providing a great joyride on the fairly isolated highway. Smog was a serious problem back then, but we’d go up on those wonderful days when the air was clear, the sky a deep blue, the vistas spectacular, and …

Did We Get Haiti Less Wrong This Time?

Six Billion Dollars Went to Haiti After Its Earthquake. Some of the Money May Even Have Helped.

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, an earthquake, one of the deadliest in history, struck Haiti and killed over 300,000 people. In the aftermath, governments and aid organizations rushed in to …

Sylmar Made Me (Sort Of)

Reflections on My Childhood Home, 41 Years After It Shook Me Silly

I don’t know when it started or who made up the story, but as kids growing up in the San Fernando Valley, we all lived in fear of the Big …

But It’s Not My Fault

Confessions of a Virginia Earthquake Survivor

I don’t remember much about 1994, but I do remember the Northridge earthquake. Striking when I was the ripe old age of eight, the quake formed one of my earliest …

Will We Freak Out in the Big One?

Post-Quake California Won't Be as Orderly as Japan, But We'll Do Better Than You Might Think

A couple wanders in the wreckage looking for elderly parents lost in the catastrophe. A husband asks around a shelter for his wife, who has been missing since the massive …