When we see news accounts of west coast earthquakes, such as the recent one, I know it's not a bad one when they open the story with pictures of a broken jar of pickles on a supermarket floor.

I always felt a little bit lucky living in the Northeast. Tornadoes and earthquakes are extremely rare and if they do occur, they tend to be relatively mild. We get the blizzards, but all you have to do is bundle up, shovel snow and wait it out. Time will melt it eventually.