One of the scariest experiences I had relayed to me was a survivor of the Low Speed Chase grounding. His life jacket would not keep him above the breaking water as it was too aerated/not dense enough. He only survived as he was thrown onto shore.
too bad humans bury their heads and think "it'll never happen"
Of course, even in Cali you don't have to retrofit. My house is only up to current earthquake code (bolted foundation, etc) as we had a remodel in the last 20 years.
given the federal backup for nat disasters, they should have some requirements (like in fire, flood and earthquake zones) for codes. Friends down there have recently built homes above the surge zone and they have some down trees and small damage.