Neither

Having grown up in Northern California and remembering quite vividly the 6.9 Loma Prieta quake, and now living in SW Missouri and seeing friends' and neighbors' lives and homes ripped apart in tornadoes in 2008 & 2011 (not to mention "smaller" events in neighbouring towns over the years)? Yeah, I'm going to have to say earthquakes any day.

As pariscafe said, natural disasters are everywhere. If you've lived through any event you're going to be biased from the terror and from living with the aftermath. I'd prefer not to experience anymore firsthand, but I don't think there is a place in the world exempt from it.

I grew up in Southern California, and lived there for 15 years as an adult, and never experienced anything but "shakers". Some would bounce the table across the room, and my mom would just casually say, "Grab the potatoes before they fall off the table". The shakers I've experienced never lasted long either, and while I've never experienced a hurricane, I'll stick with the earthquakes, of course I would certainly change my mind if the earth split open, or buildings started falling down.

I grew up in tornado country along with snow storms. Lived for 12 years on the TX Gulf coast and went through hurricane Ike that is the forgotten hurricane. Recently moved the the mountains of TN where I understand there are minor earthquakes and an occasional tornado. I think I will take that.

Hurricanes have bigger devastating effect because strong hurricane travels thousands of miles and leaves path of destruction behind him. Flooding often follows the hurricane, but earthquake can also trigger a tsunami .
Earthquakes cover comparably small area , and today many buildings are built using earthquake reinforced construction . But at least for now science can not predict where the next earthquake will accure. Both are dangerous but they have been a part of human existence from time immemorial . And statistically , there is a much bigger chance to die in a car accident that from any of aforementioned natural disaster.

From an anxiety point of view, I'd opt for earthquakes. The schedule disruption, evacuations, leaving animals behind multiple times every single year is too much. With earthquakes you don't know about them ahead of time and once they're over, you're too busy with cleanup to spend days worrying about if you'll be hit. My first big one was 1952 White Wolf quake, a 7.3, then the Sylmar 6.6 in 1971. I've also lived in hurricane, tornado and seasonal flooding communities.

cgrma, I live along the coast in the South Carolina lowcountry over half my life. I moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina to escape all of that too

I've lived in both and been through some pretty bad ones in both. At least with a Hurricane you can escape in land where as with an earthquake there is no where to go and there is no warning. It is pretty scary to be in a car and on or under a bridge when an earthquake hits. I've also lived in areas that have tornadoes. Houses just two streets over were gone. That was frightening. We lived in the alps region when there was an avalanche that had been anticipated but only generally. Generally as in, There have obviously been avalanches here in the past few thousand years and this mountain side is positioned so that another could come within the next few hundred years. We were staying about 6 kilometers away and it sounded like nothing I have ever heard before or since. I don't think you can escape to live in a place where there is no natural danger point on this living planet. But if I must choose then I choose to be not too far out in the country, not in a suburb, with my husband and our pets, and not on the coast. I much prefer not living on the coast or near to a beach.

Debjonesfabbri - check out this report: http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/hazards/earthquake.htm. The entire Pacific Ocean is rimmed by the "Ring of Fire" The further you are from the coast, the lower your risk of damage from an earthquake.

Like many commenters I grew up in Southern California so I've been through several quakes - the worst being the '71 Sylmar quake. I will never forget the sight, live on camera (I was up getting ready for school and watching early morning TV from L.A.) the front of the VA hospital collapsing and occupied beds shooting off the now-walless floors.

I moved away after uni, lived all over the US including central FL during Hurricane Andrew, and the US Gulf of Mexico during the multiple hitting 2004 'cane season (Hurricane Ivan spawned tornadoes took just about everything I owned at the time) - left after Katrina and moved for my last five US years to NW GA where annual ice-snow storms took out the power grid regularly, and tornadoes were common too.

In the US, natural disaster is something that happens just about anywhere. I chose 'Cane/'Nado Country over Earthquake Country because with 'canes and tornadoes, one does usually get enough advance warning to get outta Dodge - stuff can be replaced, people and beloved companion animals cannot. From '77 through 2010 I lived in the American South and never once missed living where earthquakes could take out an entire neighbourhood (fires, fissures, collapsing buildings and freeways...) in a half-heartbeat without so much as a seconds worth of warning.

I live in my parent's native UK now, land of seemingly incessant rains, lol, but what folks in the UK call a wicked storm doesn't really register with me:)

I live in Hurricane country (the caribbean). We get a weeks warning. We already are getting the daily messages on the radio saying PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE, Its a mantra in our house.

Hurricane North Carolina with sufficient warning usually, but weather has become more unpredictable the past few years and seasons. We seen to now have 2 seasons, either winter or summer. Don't understand other than Bible predicted this.

I live in tornado alley. Much less of a risk when there is a tornado that it will hit MY home.

Have lived in SoCal for 56 years and never suffered damage from earthquakes...a bit of a shake and done, over with. Would like to retire to Kentucky to enjoy country living, space, quiet...but research is on for a property out of tornado territory and sink hole mayhem. Apparently, peace and quiet comes at a price!

I have lived in Southern California since 1963, except 10 years in Oklahoma City with my company. Tornados scared us to death in Oklahoma. TV stations stopped all programming and gave tornado reports that went on for hours and hours, making sure you're really scared. Earthquakes, on the other hand, last 30 seconds, or so, you have no warning and no time to be scared. I'll take the earthquakes every time.

I would sooner live in a more stable region like Ontario Canada.

I grew up in the Midwest, but now live near Houston, in Galveston county, about 30 miles from the coast. In recent years, I have evacuated for hurricanes Rita and Ike. Rita went east of us, so the only damage and death came from the evacuation of Houston. Ike went directly over but it's damage was mostly from water, and that didn't reach us. Houses here (in coastal counties) are built to hold up to anything up through a category 3 hurricane at least. We haven't had above a 2 hit near us since I moved here in 1987. Tornadoes may come with the hurricanes, but they are generally small ones that do little damage.

Neither the tornadoes of the Midwest nor the hurricanes near Houston have worried me much. Earthquakes would scare me, because of the lack of warning, but I suppose that is because I am not used to the threat. Personally, I think there are risks anywhere (hurricane, earthquake, wild fire, tornado, landslide, avalanche, etc.) and I won't let that decide where I live. Forced to choose, I would take the hurricanes because you can evacuate and take anything important. Oh, and I wouldn't live in tornado alley without a basement or safe room in the house.

Between earthquakes and hurricanes, I'd take hurricanes, since you have advanced warning with hurricanes. No way would I ever want to live in an area prone to tornadoes - I'd take earthquakes over tornadoes. But bring on the blizzards! We can definitely deal with those!

My answer is NEITHER However if I really had to choose I would say a hurricane . As we live in Miami we have experienced hurricanes - one of the most destructive being ANDREW. It was disastrous however you are able have cover and shelter. In the case of an earthquake - the thought of the possibility of the ground opening up and swallowing you is not at all pleasant.

J Design Group, Modern Interior Design Firm in Miami, Florida. http://www.JDesignGroup.com

I vote neither, but if I had to pick one it would be quakes. I lived in CA for 30 yrs & GA for 15 yrs & now NE Texas. And you can absolutely tell when a quake is coming.... Just watch your pets, the birds & wildlife in and around your area. They know days ahead. Pay attention to your instincts.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this so my apologies ahead of time but I'm a native CA and even with the Northridge earthquate, being the worst experienced throughout CA, they last 30 seconds, maybe a bit more, do their damage, and they're done. I'd take a quick over and done disaster way before worrying for a week, vacating, and returned after so much tie has passed to see if there was or wasn't damage. Happy in Cali ...

Living on the east coast all my life I will take hurricanes as long is you are not in a "flood prone" area. We recently moved to Colorado with a higher tendency of tornado activity and wild fires. Just need to be on your toes and know what to do with FAR LESS notice.

I grew up in the Caribbean where there are earthquakes, hurricanes and lizards however I prefer hurricanes because there is advanced warning. When I came to the Washington DC area I thought I was home free but we have had two earthquakes, several hurricanes but no lizards.

sherrycar We lived in Galveston for 12 years, Katrina, Rita and Ike. The horror of Rita was the evacuation. More people died on the hiway from being stuck for 48 hours then they did from the hurricane. And with Ike we were out of our house for almost 2 weeks, weren't allowed on the island then had to wait for water, sewer lights and gas to be restored. There are still people 5 1/2 yrs later that are not back or still repairing.

I am a native Floridian and have lived through numerous hurricanes. I also lived through the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. I was still in my office working when the quake struck. I rode it out under my desk. What a horror to find out that the Cypress Street viaduct had collapsed onto the Nimitz Freeway during commute traffic. I had friends and coworkers using that freeway to travel home from work. In the aftermath, volunteers and National Guard went to the freeway structure looking into individual vehicles for survivors and the dead. Two of my coworkers were involved in that search and it was a horrific job. There were other horrors that day, but this one affected me the most. All that being said, I'll take hurricanes over earthquakes any day.

I'm with you, venusalderman. The Loma Prieta destroyed my house, not all at once, but weakened it so it was too unstable to be safe. Still, I turned away the inspectors and told them I was lucky and my house was fine. It withstood all the roughly 4500 aftershocks we experienced and gave me time to find a new home. Ultimately it was destroyed. But I still prefer the quick earthquake over the anxiety-producing, life-disrupting hurricane. Bottom line: if an earthquake hits, you're either dead or alive. If you're still alive, everything can be repaired or replaced.

I'll take a hurricane any day of the week. This place has already survived several, so it's all good!! :0)

I call her my "3 little pigs house"!

I lived for 17 years in the SF Bay Area with no earthquake damage (and barely even felt the numerous small earthquakes we had), so I'd choose earthquakes. With hurricanes, the endless cycle of warnings, evacuations, floodings, houses destroyed and rebuilt would drive me crazy. Honestly, the drought conditions in CA in the 1970's inconvenienced me infinitely more than the earthquakes did. Now I live in the northern midwest with no threat of either (and no history of tornados either). But if we get too many more "polar vortexes" I'll be tempted to move back to earthquake country just to stay warm.

A friend and I were just discussing if there was a "safe" state to live in the U.S. Although all are susceptible to any disaster, I thought maybe Arizona may be a safer bet. Coming from the Northeast, we get Nor'easters from fall to Spring which are devastating if you live on the coast. We have also had hurricanes and a few tornadoes, although nothing like the ones in the west.

Earthquake. Over in 30 seconds. Less mud and wide spread water damage.

I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have had one large enough earthquake to be noted in my life, you get hurricanes every year.

I have never had beach front property, but if i did then i'll take my chances with the earthquake(s). But in all my life thus far i've always lived inland...hurricanes are no problem. That is, no structures i lived in were shakened to death....knock on wood

You can't fight Mother Nature. She's always going to win. What amazes me is that we continue to build homes in areas of the country that are prone to these natural disasters. In California when you buy a home, you have to sign a waiver that you're aware of the earthquake faults that surround your home. Yet, we still buy those homes. We play the odds when we choose beautiful scenery or nice weather over our safety. I guess when we build our homes in the path of Mother Nature, we have to accept the consequences.

Neither ! Here we get floods every spring on our country house yard, and it is not welcome, so big storms are not wanted.

At least half of California has neither earthquakes or hurricanes. The biggest fault lines are along the coast under the biggest cities. The rest of us live (lived, in my case) in agriculture or desert areas. Drought is our yearly worry.

I live in "Earthquake Country". Wouldn't be anywhere else. Well, Maui, perhaps.

CGRMA I do understand that Rita was bad, just not to the homes in Houston. I evacuated from it with a 3 month old and 2 dogs, going East to family in Baton Rouge. I was closer to the water then, and expected to return to an empty slab. We left later than most, and each city we reached seemed to announce evacuation just as we reached it, so we were just ahead of the worst traffic, and the usual 5 hour drive took 14 hours. We considered ourselves very, very lucky. I was glad we drove home at night so I didn't have to see so much destruction. Soon after, we moved to an area safe from storm surge, though we could still lose everything in a bad hurricane.

I also understand how bad Ike was, as much as someone who really didn't experience it herself can. I only meant that it hadn't affected us much. When we returned home 2 days later, our back fence was down and our electricity was back on about 3 hours later. That's about as minor damage as you can have when the eye of a hurricane goes directly over your house. I saw lots of damage though. It was an underrated storm if you lived where the storm surge or flooding reached. Many older homes were damaged by the winds also, because they were built before the current building requirements. And an incredible number of people spent weeks without electricity. The damage is still clearly visible when we drive to Galveston.

Life is hard enough as it is for most people,so adding an earthquake or a hurricane would be unthinkable!!

Floridian here. It's already been said that it's nice to know when they're coming so you can prepare. I've spent time all up and down California and Tokyo and never felt a quake so I can't compare. Did I mention I like having the warning?

I've lived with both, but in my area hurricanes are rare and I am at 600 feet elevation so at least the sea wouldn't get me. I could never live somewhere like coastal Florida which gets a lot of them. There it seems like just a matter of time. Plus I get extremely sick from mold, so that kind of moisture would be difficult on me.

Earthquakes are different; at least in the US, most houses ride through them fine. It's just old, poorly built, unstrapped ones which usually have the problems. Earthquakes come and go fast, no need to worry ahead of time. (I personally am opposite of the person above as I find it better to not have a warning.) Believe it or not, they're actually an element of fun: riding it out, talking to people about it, comparing stories. (No disrespect to the people who are tragically killed or injured in them.)

I've lived in SoCal for most of my life and experienced lots of quakes without, so far, much damage. There wasn't a single noticeable quake the first 10 years we lived here. Sure seems tornadoes and hurricanes can do worse damage...and be more frequent. However, it's pretty frightning how earthquakes come out of nowhere with no warning. I don't deal well! Then you have to wait for the aftershocks.

I've lived in tornado country, hurricane country, and now live in earthquake country. I love the weather here in SoCal, but felt safer in Florida with the advance notice you get with hurricanes.

I survived the largest quake ever recorded in N. America & the 2nd largest in the world. It lasted for 5 minutes.
No warning that the ground is going to open under you, or a loved one. I am very accustomed to quakes. Alaska has more earthquakes than the rest of the U.S., combined. We have one 7-8 quake every year; forty five 5-6 quakes a year; an avg. of 1,000 earthquakes a month. Of course, the tiny ones you don't even feel.
Hurricanes I've survived, as well, around the world. Warning is a wonderful thing!
And yes, we have winds over 100 mph every year in AK, but we don't refer to them as hurricanes.
Beginning with the warning & prep for a hurricane, there is NO comparison between a hurricane & earthquake.

So I'd take a hurricane every day of the year, over an earthquake.
I love traveling & spending time in hurricane-prone areas of earth... but I won't trade the beauty of Alaska, to live in one of them. So it's a good thing Im used to earthquakes.
Just pray I will never experience another 9.2 that lasts for 5 minutes, ripping the world apart, that can swallow one child into the earth, while a child 2' away, is just fine.
Oh - yes, our structural design in Alaska is made for earthquakes, so you're perfectly safe, if you visit!

I have lived through both, California's earthquakes and fires or "Shake & Bake" country and the east coast. Give me hurricanes any day! One can always evacuate as we certainly have plenty of warnings with hurricanes. Tornados, fires, earthquakes, are too terrorizing and destructive. One can rebuild with a hurricane, but loss of life is permanent.

The US has the most extreme weather in the world, from the record scorching heat of Death Valley, to the bone chilling winds of Mt Washington, NH. Include Tornado Alley, Hurricane Season, the Blizzards across the northern section of the US, the earthquakes in Alaska and California, and the wildfires and flooding and you have a recipe for potential disaster. What warms my heart is the generosity, resilience, and spirit of Americans after any disaster. After Sandy, friends and neighbors in NJ fed and bed those less fortunate, churches and synagogues helped to rebuild, State Police came from the south to help as NJ State Troopers had helped during Katrina. People donated time and money and extended their hearts to those less fortunate.

Earthquake! Did anyone feel this morning's quake?

We're about 400+ miles south of Napa. I woke up at 3:35 am to the bed shaking enough to wake me up. However, it was at exactly 3:35 am, and they said the quake was at 3:20. Who knows...it wouldn't be the first time a quake was felt that far away. Ohhh how I HATE earthquakes!

We're in San Joaquin county, I was sitting on the sofa getting ready for my first cup of coffee and the sofa just started moving side to side to side...We're not on a fault line! That can't be an earthquake! But I'd rather NOT buy a mobile home and move to Kansas.

@debjonesfabbri .... The government of Canada says Vancouver is at high risk of having an earthquake. And that "Some of the world's largest earthquakes have occurred in British Columbia." ... http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/earthquake.aspx

@quercus2: good to know! How do you make your house earthquake safe?