Reply #34: Experianced small flood, big (7.4)quake, F2 tornado. Tornado hands down.

[haele]

You can build for quakes. They may be a bit of a suprise, but unless you're smack dab on the epicenter, if you're in a building built for a quake, you'll survive. And there's less of a chance of you getting killed in an earthquake than pretty much anything else on earth. They're disconcerting, true - but for the most part, it's easy to pick up after one.

Tornado - far more damage, happens far more often, and more of a chance being caught unawares and hurt if you live in Tornado Alley than if you live in Earthquake country - even if the "Big One" comes along.

Flooding is pretty nasty, too. And again, happens in far more frequency than an earthquake.

You forgot Fire. IMO, Wild Fires are worse than floods - but then, I live in California, where there is more of a chance you'll lose everything or get killed in a bad brush fire than in a quake.

The Earthquake to worry about will be when the New Madrid goes - and it's overdue. You guys back east and in the Midwest are just not built for a quake of that magnitude.

Haele