Chilling report: 10,000+ could die in major Northwest U.S. earthquake
March 16, 2013 – PORTLAND - Coastal
towns would be inundated. Schools, buildings and bridges would
collapse, and economic damage could hit $32 billion. These findings were
published in a chilling new report by the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy
Advisory Commission, a group of more than 150 volunteer experts. In
2011, the Legislature authorized the study of what would happen if a
quake and tsunami such as the one that devastated Japan hit the Pacific
Northwest. The Cascadia Subduction Zone, just off the regional
coastline, produced a mega-quake in the year 1700. Seismic experts say
another monster quake and tsunami are overdue. “This earthquake will hit
us again,” Kent Yu, an engineer and chairman of the commission, told
lawmakers. “It’s just a matter of how soon.” When it hits, the report
says, there will be devastation and death from Northern California to
British Columbia. Many Oregon communities will be left without water,
power, heat and telephone service. Gasoline supplies will be disrupted.
The 2011 Japan quake and tsunami were a wakeup call for the Pacific
Northwest. Governments have been taking a closer look at whether the
region is prepared for something similar and discovering it is not.
Oregon legislators requested the study so they could better inform
themselves about what needs to be done to prepare and recover from such a
giant natural disaster. The report says that geologically, Oregon and
Japan are mirror images. Despite the devastation in Japan, that country
was more prepared than Oregon because it had spent billions on
technology to reduce the damage, the report says. Jay Wilson, the
commission’s vice chairman, visited Japan and said he was profoundly
affected as he walked through villages ravaged by the tsunami. “It was
just as if these communities were ghost towns, and for the most part
there was nothing left,” said Wilson, who works for the Clackamas County
emergency management department. Wilson told legislators that there was
a similar event 313 years ago in the Pacific Northwest, and “we’re well
within the window for it to happen again.” Experts representing a
variety of state agencies, industries and organizations expanded on the
report’s findings and shared with lawmakers how they have begun
planning. Sue Graves, a safety coordinator for the Lincoln County School
District, told lawmakers that high school students in her district take
semester-long classes that teach CPR and other survival techniques in
the wake of a giant earthquake. The class teaches students to “duck,
cover and hold” when the ground starts shaking. Maree Wacker, chief
executive officer of the American Red Cross of Oregon, said it is
important for residents to have their own contingency plans for natural
disasters. “Oregonians as individuals are underprepared,” she said. –KATU
Share this:Cascadian Megaquake 1 of 5: http://youtu.be/NP8cDXsvH8A via @youtube
Cascadian Megaquake 2 of 5: http://youtu.be/LjDixpGsBf4 via @youtube
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