Funny thing: my mom has been saying this for 40 years, only concerning earthquakes and living in California.
The only time I have ever seen any sense in moving away permanently because of the threats of nature is when someone lives in an area that routinely floods, as in every year. Yet the Nile Valley is one of the most continuously populated regions of the world, and it floods every year.
You live where it gives you joy, if possible. There are risks everywhere. People living in California are more likely to experience an earthquake than any random seashore resident is to experience a tsunami, yet I see no massive flight from the state. Ditto Florida after the recent devastating hurricane season. It's bitter cold part of the year where I live, yet if I had my druthers, I'd move north.
No, the cause of the tragedy was lack of information and lack of planning. (To know a tsunami is coming means nothing if there's no evacuation plan and the roads are garbage.) There would still have been economic distress, but the loss of life would have been greatly reduced.
Current Events » in reply to The have tsunami sirens in Hilo, Hawaii
re: "Don't live next to the ocean shore."