> have a set of work clothes (HD outerwear, boots and gloves)

Yeah, another set of clothes is on my list. I'll do that today, in fact.

"...tsunamis will devastate the coast but that the Golden Gate will prevent them from entering the bay."

I'm snickering here. The Golden Gate is 746 ft above the water, and it's held up by two posts, which are near each end. And what's THAT going to stop or even slow down??? A tsunami entering straight in wouldn't even notice it.

I've lived in Quake Country all my life. One thing I always think about when I think of earthquakes is fires. First, the earthquake hits, severing lots of gas lines. Then all the scared smokers in the area light up to calm their nerves. Funny, huh?

Your situation is worse than practically anything I can imagine:

1) You have no open areas, not even a place to stand that would be free of falling & flying debris, much less pitch a tent.
2) Fire following broken gas mains is probable.
3) Incredibly heavy population density, about 16,000 per sq mile.
4) A lot of the areas on the Bay side are built on fill, which would turn into quicksand in a bad jolt.
5) You're barely above sea level. Vertical land shift up, okay. Major vertical land shift DOWN, you're part of the seabed.
6) There's no real way out. A lot of I-280 and 101 is elevated... for now. Escape on foot, climbing over miles upon miles of debris with other survivors of the, what? 6 million people headed south? You've got what they want? Too bad, you can't protect your head or your back. Fall and break your leg? Ooops.
7) Like you said, there's only one way to go, south. If you get there, you're in Silicon Valley/San Jose, the third-largest city in CA, with another two million people who are in almost as bad a shape as you. Probably no power, no road access for supplies, contaminated water if you can find any, food has disappeared.

Of course, you might luck out and a tsunami would put out the fires.

Sue

> The Golden Gate is 746 ft above the water, and it's held up by two posts,
> which are near each end.

No, sorry - that's the _bridge_. The bridge is across the Golden Gate, named hundreds of years before they built the bridge.

I think Susan's point is that if the Big One happens, a lot of buildings will collapse, many into the bay and then you're going to have widespread fires in a high population density area with no way out and no relief. Sounds like a lot of people are going to die: some quickly by being crushed, others from fire and smoke inhalation, and still others will die at the hands of their fellow survivors competing for food and water during the walk south. Whether or not a tsunami gets through the Golden Gate is almost moot -- just devastation on top of destruction.

One of the first things I learned about surviving bad situations was to be somewhere else, but you dismissed that option early in this discussion. I'm glad I've chosen to live elsewhere.

Another option would be to walk west over the hills to the coast and then south, before the fires get bad. At least the population density and the smoke from the fires won't be so bad; the higher elevation could keep you out of the tsunami's reach. You might have trouble with the San Andreas chasm, but after that it should be easier.

Do you hike those hills? If you don't, it might be a good idea to start, it looks very scenic on Google Earth. There are small roads that cross with no buildings to collapse. Four or five hours and you'll be on the beach, assuming it hasn't moved. That's where I'd look for a storage unit (This would be a major kit to include a small off-road motorcycle or at least a mountain bike (bicycle).)

My agenda is to attach bachelor buttons on all my pants including blue jeans (suspenders can easily be improvised) because I will be loosing a lot of weight and my belt may not fit anymore.

I suggest you carry a GI type of can opener (p38 or p51) in your wallet or keychain and you will not look as silly as Christian Bale in "Empire of the Sun" or Adrien Brody in "The Pianist" when you find canned goods while rummaging for food.

While can-openers make the job much easier, you can always open a can with a knife. I used to use a Buck fixed blade (I don't remember which model) to open cans before I ever went out and got a can opener. It wasn't as fast, and nowhere near as safe, but it did work!

Dave

SAK can openers available on many models work much easier and leave a relatively clean lip.

Yup, and there is (almost) always a can opener on all the multi-tools that I have seen...

I've also used a knife to open cans before. It's not that hard once you get the hang of it.