Southern California: Would We Miss It?

This weekend’s quake, located in northern Mexico, pretty much due south of the Salton Sea, resulted in a thousand and one slightly sloshy swimming pools in the greater Los Angeles area. (See the above for the average representative on YouTube, narrated by what is apparently a slightly younger Sharon Stone.) I had to wonder: when we eventually lose parts or most of lower California, will we think about it ever again when it’s gone? (Mexico, yes, that we would miss.) But given just how strongly those of us who grew up in the lower California expected it not to be around forever anyway, in a way it’s like it’s already been gone for decades. Southern California already acts as if it doesn’t really exist, so what real difference (besides some mayhem and death) will it make?