M6.1 quake strikes near Ogasawara islands

No earthquake or tsunami has happened in California which equals Tokoku in 2011

In recorded history perhaps but comparably big tsunamis have struck the west coast of North America before, and the coastal plains of the Orange and Ventura Counties are especially risky in that regard. The geology certainly presents the same risks one finds in Japan. Crescent City California was badly damaged from a tsunami created by the big 1964 M9.5 Alaska earthquake. What happened to Valdez is horrifying and the town was relocated as a result. Anywhere along the west coast of the Americas from Chile to Alaska can suffer a quake of such great magnitude.

Since 1850, only seven tropical cyclones have brought gale-force winds to the Southwestern United States.

Nonsense. We don't get tropical cyclones per se but we have plenty of low pressure systems (which have cyclonic rotation even though they are usually cold) come through with gale force winds or greater. Gale force winds are like 50-80 kph. We have winds of those speeds almost weekly. In Mojave such winds occur almost daily. Same thing in Banning Pass and Pacheco Pass. One of our vehicles is in a body shop right now after being thoroughly sandblasted during a windstorm with wind speeds above 120 kph. We are waiting on new windows to replace the ones that look like frosted glass in a shower door! At least we weren't flipped over like a half dozen big trucks we saw and an equal number of motorhomes and travel trailers.

I have lived through way too many Santa Ana winds with wind speeds exceeding 140 kph with gusts over 200 kph (gusts to 269 kph have been recorded). When the winds are over you go outside, pick up all the shingles that blew off your roof, climb the ladder and nail them back on. Don't forget to bring some new ones because you won't find all the ones you lost in the wind. While you're up there you put the TV antenna back up, maybe string another couple of stay wires hoping that helps it survive the next Santa Ana (eventually the stay wires peeled the whole roof structure back necessitating an expensive professional repair). When you are done with that you climb down the ladder and put the fences that blew over back up. Driving in those winds can be, um, interesting. Santa Ana's are an annual thing, usually several episodes every fall and winter. They are very dry and hot, usually causing huge wildfires.

I'll take a M6.1 quake over a hurricane or tornado. Lived through larger quakes just fine and you can build homes to withstand much stronger quakes than that without damage (our has), but you can't build a home to withstand a hit from a tornado or the tidal surge and winds of a hurricane.

Looks like you two can compromise that nothing man builds can withstand the combined force and mass of either a storm surge, or tsunami, both originating from different events but with similar devastation:

*- @DesertTortoise 5:39am: “… but you can't build a home to withstand a hit from a tornado or the tidal surge and winds of a hurricane*

Powerful earthquakes like in Tohoku in 2011 can cause a massive tsunami which causes more deaths and destruction than any hurricane or tornado. More than 18,000 died.

I live in a desert with two mountain ranges between my home and any ocean so no worries about tsunamis. That was a deliberate choice btw. I had job opportunities on the coast and turned them down exactly because of the tsunami threat. I made sure my home is not in any known flood zone, dam inundation zone or on any known faults. We have detailed maps of both due to state laws. We had a M6.4 quake one day followed by a M7.1 the next day and no damage. A couple of things fell off shelves and that was it. The self closing cabinet doors in the kitchen stayed closed so we didn't have everything laying in a pile of broken glass mixed with food on the kitchen floor. Modern wood frame construction with thick sheer walls on a reinforced concrete slab foundation does pretty good in a quake!

Spooky…