Quake Caused Fires

Fires are the most destructive force when a quake occurs near a modern city-moreso than the tremors. Especially if water mains and fire-fighting equipment are rendered useless, the fires burn unchecked.
In the past it was common for the doors of a fire-house to buckle during the on-set of a quake. The fire engines were trapped because the doors could not be opened. Today, most fire stations´ doors are connected to an earthquake detection system that will automatically raise all of the station´s doors on an average of 20 seconds before the tremors are actually felt by people.