> NA has far more natural disaster exposure than europe does
Agreed, but that's even more of a sign for "the US should be even more proactive in regulations and enforcement than Europe, not the other way around!
In any case we do have areas that are prone to wildfire, especially the Balkans, Greece and Turkey get hit regularly and hard. But the human toll is always very low even if the fires rage, because our buildings don't consist out of the cheapest sort of wood and cardboard and there is ample distance between homes and forests.
> i seem to recall quite a few buildings collapsing in Turkey and in Greece in the last quarter century after earthquakes
Yup, and in almost all cases it turns out that either the owners intentionally circumvented the code or construction was shoddy because someone diverted money and substituted cheaper but unallowed materials.
Our greatest issue tends to be floods like in the Ahrtal or the beginning of Spain, because our building and zoning codes haven't caught up with climate change. Unfortunately, what I call "Americanism" (or y'all "American Exceptionalism") seems to have seeped into our culture as well - the attitude that humans are superior to nature's forces and can bend them to their will, and so I'm afraid history is doomed to repeat itself.
Agreed, but that's even more of a sign for "the US should be even more proactive in regulations and enforcement than Europe, not the other way around!
In any case we do have areas that are prone to wildfire, especially the Balkans, Greece and Turkey get hit regularly and hard. But the human toll is always very low even if the fires rage, because our buildings don't consist out of the cheapest sort of wood and cardboard and there is ample distance between homes and forests.
> i seem to recall quite a few buildings collapsing in Turkey and in Greece in the last quarter century after earthquakes
Yup, and in almost all cases it turns out that either the owners intentionally circumvented the code or construction was shoddy because someone diverted money and substituted cheaper but unallowed materials.
Our greatest issue tends to be floods like in the Ahrtal or the beginning of Spain, because our building and zoning codes haven't caught up with climate change. Unfortunately, what I call "Americanism" (or y'all "American Exceptionalism") seems to have seeped into our culture as well - the attitude that humans are superior to nature's forces and can bend them to their will, and so I'm afraid history is doomed to repeat itself.