With the recent earthquake disaster in Chile, on the heals of the devastating quake in Haiti, there has been talk of the next big quake in the United States. It’s not a matter of IF but WHEN!

I vividly recall the quake of 1989 that hit before the third game of the World Series featuring Bay area teams, the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. In fact the series had to be delayed. There were some 75 deaths and thousands of injuries as a result of that quake. The quake measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale.

I remember watching the World Series pre-game and camera crews started shaking. The network had to go off the air and go to a backup telecast until they could get reorganized and restore electricity. Moments after the 15 second quake players on the field began looking for family members. Fans headed for the exits. We did not really know what was happening. It was a little like watching the reality of September 11, 2001 unfold.

We endure some whopper snow storms and have had a couple this winter. Once in a while we have the threat of a tornado, but an earthquake in Minnesota is not one of our greatest fears.

The last strong quake in Minnesota registered 4.6 in the western part of the state in 1975. The reading of 4.6 is considered strong by Minnesota standards, but pales in comparison to quakes recorded on the west coast.

With the quakes in Haiti and then Chile a couple months later something significant has to be occuring under the earth’s surface. When a quake hits Chile and there are Tsunami warnings in Hawaii it shows a disaster of this magnitude has far-reaching effects.

My greatest concern would be safety and number two, “Am I covered by insurance?” In Minnesota we are more concerned about wind or hail damage-not earthquake damage.

We are currently working our way out of an economic disaster. Wonder what would happen if we had to deal with a natural disaster too, like an earthquake? Brings back memories of how Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were handled. Remind me not to complain when we have the next humdinger of a snow storm. Weatherwise we don’t have it so bad, do we?