Japanese earthquake sends sobering message for USA

Of all the disasters that can wreak havoc, earthquakes stand out for not being entirely natural. To a farmer in a field, a quake is a strange and frightening occurrence, but probably not life threatening. In cities, however, the man-made structures that provide shelter from other disasters can turn into a lethal enemy. Add a tsunami, and farmer and city dweller alike could be swamped.

If any country understands this interplay of earthquakes, waves and buildings it is Japan, which has developed stringent building codes and well-rehearsed evacuation plans. Having lived for centuries in such close proximity to one another and facing a common threat, the Japanese have evolved into a much more communitarian and ordered society than ours. And yet, as the continuing stream of bad news from Friday's quake indicates, even the Japanese couldn't save themselves from a temblor of such magnitude so close to shore.

Here in the USA, this should be sobering. When the capital of Haiti was leveled by a quake last year, Americans could at least take comfort from the fact that buildings here are much stronger and safer. The Japanese quake sends the opposite message.

Earthquake-prone areas here are pockmarked with schools and other facilities built decades ago that don't meet earthquake safety standards. The Utah Seismic Safety Commission recently concluded that 60% of a sampling of 128 schools did not meet federal guidelines. A 2007 study in Oregon found that roughly 1,000 schools, or 46% of the state's total, had a high or very-high risk of failure during a temblor.

The list of vulnerable infrastructure is long: dams, bridges, pipelines, nuclear plants and more. And outside of Hawaii and Alaska, who has even thought about a tsunami threat?

Given the severe financial difficulties many states and localities are facing, retrofitting tens of thousands of buildings will not happen quickly. But the Japanese temblor should serve as a clarion call to start chipping away at the problem because preparing a secure future is a priority America has wholly devalued. Earthquake-proof schools, dams and nuclear plants take a back seat to more immediate indulgences in the same way that the nation's economic security is sacrificed to tax cuts and entitlement spending.

At all levels, government is expected to be limited and to tax little. At the same time, it is expected to make benefits appear out of thin air and come to the rescue when disaster strikes. An event as minor as a snowstorm can send people into a rage about the inability of local government to respond. Hurricane Katrina exposed the lack of focus on disaster at the city, state and federal levels. And still preparation is lacking.

If an earthquake like the one in Japan struck in a similarly populated area in America, it would be an utter calamity. Not only would the devastation be vastly greater, but the pace of getting life back to normal would be slower, even on the West Coast where temblors are common and preparation for them is greatest. A quake in the Midwest or the East — where two of the biggest shakers in American history struck — would be exponentially worse for reasons of geology and indifference.

This might not change, but the Japanese quake should at least raise the requisite alarm bells on nuclear power plants. The U.S. is not as dependent on nuclear power as is Japan (We get about 20% of our electricity from it while Japan gets 30%). But we do have existing plants near fault lines, including the Diablo Canyon and San Onofre facilities, both along the California coast where they are exposed to both earthquake and tsunami. And, after a 30-year hiatus, several new plants are now under consideration. The energy they could provide is sorely needed. But this quake should prompt a re-evaluation of which new plants to build and which existing plants should be considered for decommissioning.

Given all the misery left in a country as well prepared as any for a major earthquake, Americans should be humbled and concerned, not grateful that such a tragedy did not strike closer to home. Because one day it will.