Living in tornado alley also, I am more scared of the tornadoes. Im not too worried about a hurricane here in the heartland, and earthquakes I have never experienced. The big tornado that was in Picher this last week was wayyy too close to home. I grew up in Commerce which is about 8-10 miles from there. It is total devastation. 7 people lost their lives, and they had plenty of warning too.
After reading about the earthquake in China though, I pray I never have to experience one of those.

None of them scare me...
but then, I am in an area that doesn't get any of them!

A tornado is more likely to happen, so I'm more afraid of that. We'd never have to worry about a hurricane here, but the threat of a big earthquake is possible (New Madrid fault)...but don't think we'd have too much damage unless it was a really big one since we're pretty far from the faultline.

well familiar w/ hurricanes, nothing under 100 mph would even keep me from my regular daily routine. you usually get some warning, thou our first bad one, Charley aug 13, 04 105 mph we had only 3 hrs hrs warning after a pathway change. we had 2 more after that within 6 weeks so we became well adjusted.

tornadoes don't scare me much, i grew up in IN where we had them and have had a few close calls thru my childhood but they are not as common in FL unless in conjunction w/ hurricanes. i did not even realize we don't have sirens in orlando burbs till last yr but you dare not live in FL w/o a fancy weather radio.

earthquakes happen so infrequently here in the U.S. that i'd never waste my time worrying. if they happened as often as other natural disasters no one could afford home owners insurance in CA. earhtquakes would never keep me from living in CA and i'm almost over my fear of an extreme hurricane hitting south FL so i could almost move down there :-) ~ liz

Guess I'd have to say the tornado since I'm not in much danger of being where a hurricane might hit. We have had a couple of 4's on the earthquake scale though. That wasn't very comforting. It's been a few years ago so I dismiss it pretty easily. I would NOT like to think I lived where one could strike at anytime though. It would definitely be on the top of my natural disaster fear rating if I was.

I grew up in CA and experienced two big earthquakes in 1952. They don't scare me at all.
I now live in tornado country and they don't scare me either. I feel safe knowing I have a basement. My house was built in 1933 and there are houses a few blocks away that were built in the 1800s. If my town were to be hit by a tornado, I would probably have more fear.

When in my own home, none do. We occasionally get the tail end of a hurricane, but it's never as intense as what you see in the South. Once in a blue moon, we'll feel a vague rattle, and hear on the news it WASN'T a truck rattling down the street, but a small earthquake. There have been a few instances where a little tornado will come through and take out a tree or 2, or a few roofing shingles. None of those three are ever very intense in the area where I live. Nor do we get major flooding, or any other intense weather. We're so lucky.

I have, however, twice been in an area where there were twisters. Once, our hotel was in the middle of a large area where there were 5 that caused a great deal of property damage, injury and death. Another time we were on a highway, a terrible storm hit, and we eventually were able to get off an exit. Once we did, we learned that a rain-wrapped tornado had crossed the highway we were on, just about when we were on it, and had tossed tractor trailors around like matchbox cars. We must have missed being involved by mere feet. The storm system proceeded further east and caused even more damage in other towns.

While I don't worry about them when I'm safe and sound at home, I am positively terrified of tornadoes when I'm in areas where they hit, and the weather turns bad.

Well, I'm used to earthquakes. Was here for the big one in '89. That was scary. You don't know when they're going to hit, or how bad they'll be, so there's not much point in worrying about them. Most are pretty mild.
Hurricanes, I figure, I could leave the storm area. Property can be replaced.
Now, tornadoes would scare the beejeezus out of me. You don't know which way they're going to turn and there's not a whole lot of warning.
Wildfires are pretty scary, too.

Tornado.No chance of hurricanes here in West Texas and earthquakes are unlikely where I am.The only reason tornados scare me is because I live in a double wide mobile home and DH wouldn't go somewhere safe.LOL He always says,"When it's your time it's your time!"LOL I tell him maybe so but God gave us sense enough to try to protect ourselves! Obviously he was behind the door when it was passed out!LOL I really hate it when there are tornado warnings during the night.DD lives near OK city and she is like her daddy.DGS on the other hand worries about every little dark cloud.LOL

With a hurricane you have more time to prepare your home and self and even get out of the way if you can afford it.

I've been through a couple hurricanes, at least 2 major earthquakes and several tornado's.

I have to say earthquakes are the scariest for me. It is so sudden and unexpected and it catches you really off guard.

The anticipation of tornado's and hurricanes cause as much stress sometimes as the actual event for me. I stressed so much over Rita after Katrina, then I slept through the Hurrican Rita. LOL!

I think the scariest tornado event was a couple of years ago. We were going down the Interstate in the Motorhome and we saw a low totally black cloud coming straight at us. Right down the Interstate about 5 miles wide. I wanted to get out of the Motorhome and get into a nearby covert, but that looked "snakey". All of the cars on the Interstate pulled off to the side of the road. No one was driving. We all sat there waiting for the "ch*t to hit the fan". I thought it would never be over. The funnel raised above us, and we didn't get the brunt of it. I'm just glad we were in the Motorhome and I could change my pants. LOL!

Earthquakes. There is no risk of hurricanes in my area, and tornadoes are extremely rare here, but I live on top of one of the world's geological hot spots, with active volcanoes and earthquake activity. That doesn't mean I don't have a healthy respect for the other two - it's just extremely unlikely that I will ever get caught in one.

As for the choices offered ... if this is a multiple-choice exercise, I don't see any "None of the above" option, such as one often finds in opinion surveys (and occasionally on driver's tests).

h g l gayle,

I've heard of heavy conversation, but ...

... when your "chat" hits the fan ... is it really as serious as that?

If you're referring to the four-letter word that relates to the barnyard by-product that cows produce ... (and people, as well, though they don't talk about that, much)

... I think that that word starts with an "s".

Good wishes for a happy, useful week, including having an occasional chat with a friend or family member.

ole joyful

Add my name to Lindakathy's post. I'm another Californian who experienced Loma Prieta and I feel the same for the same reasons.

I don't even like high winds.So tornadoes do scare me. We have had a few small ones now and then in Cali but never in my area.

Live in tornado alley, so have lived with it all my life.
Had a really bad one go through last year and hit a town a few miles from us. We seem to get a lot of wind her all the time anymore anyway have lost several trees or at least part of them over the last few years just from the winds. No worry of hurricanes here but did have that earthquake last month.

I'm used to hurricanes having been raised in Miami. We'd have hurricane parties and tried to choose a house where we thought we'd be safest, away from the main "hit". One year it didn't work. We went from our house in Boca Raton to a friend's in Ft. Lauderdale for a party and... they got it worse and it's only about 1/2 further south. I guess it just depends. I think tornados and earthquakes would do me in! Yikes!