Portland earthquake threat (Beaverton, Hillsboro, Bend: 2015, loans, job openings)

[CAjerseychick]

Originally Posted by therese marie

check out link below.. can even type in your address to see your risk
OHELP

nice/
as far we are located, "very low"on all counts and our lots fair sized (for the city/ .14 acres) so no houses falling in on us on either side... - we are in SE Portland!

[Lapaki]

My wife works for the City of Portland, and she interfaces with the department that is preparing for what to do when the big one hits. When it happens, it's going to be the worst disaster in the history of this country. The question is when it will happen. If I recall correctly, there's a 30% chance that a Cascadia subduction zone M8 quake will hit in the next 50 years, and a 15% chance that an M9 will hit. There are things you can do to protect your house, but the infrastructure is going to be affected for weeks, months, and even years, depending on which aspect of the infrastructure you're talking about. Most people I know approach it fatalistically: "If it happens, it happens." None of the cities in the danger zone (anything west of I5) are adequately prepared. Many people like to point out that other areas of the country experience natural disasters such as tornadoes and hurricanes, but the scale of devastation from an M9 quake would be much greater than that caused by Hurricane Katrina. Portland also has a fault running through the city that could cause a quake similar to the recent one in Italy. So it's something you need to consider if you live here or plan to live here. It could happen tomorrow, or it could happen in 300 years, or any time in between. It's one factor in my wife's and my desire to move farther east when she retires in a few years. Hood River and places east won't be devastated, but I'm sure there will be economic repercussions for any place that relies on Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and so on for supplies. I also don't know where all the refugees will go. "You pays your money, and you takes your chances," as my parents used to say.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by AnotherPDXGuy

We are in as much danger as Seattle. The hillside would be one of the last places you'd want to be. Some of it is likely to turn liquid consistency and run right off the hillside bringing homes with it.

The frequency of the big quakes are measured in hundreds of years. By some estimates we are "overdue" based on the average length of time between events, but there have been lulls between big quakes longer that's n this one. So while could happen any time, it may also not happen in a life saver etime, or a couple of lifetimes.

Excellent post. The truth is that these big subduction action quakes occur every 300 to 500 years. The last one was in 1700 so most of us can do the math. Could it happen tomorrow? Yes. Could it happen sometime well after we are all dead? Yes.

[CAjerseychick]

Originally Posted by Lapaki

My wife works for the City of Portland, and she interfaces with the department that is preparing for what to do when the big one hits. When it happens, it's going to be the worst disaster in the history of this country. The question is when it will happen. If I recall correctly, there's a 30% chance that a Cascadia subduction zone M8 quake will hit in the next 50 years, and a 15% chance that an M9 will hit. There are things you can do to protect your house, but the infrastructure is going to be affected for weeks, months, and even years, depending on which aspect of the infrastructure you're talking about. Most people I know approach it fatalistically: "If it happens, it happens." None of the cities in the danger zone (anything west of I5) are adequately prepared. Many people like to point out that other areas of the country experience natural disasters such as tornadoes and hurricanes, but the scale of devastation from an M9 quake would be much greater than that caused by Hurricane Katrina. Portland also has a fault running through the city that could cause a quake similar to the recent one in Italy. So it's something you need to consider if you live here or plan to live here. It could happen tomorrow, or it could happen in 300 years, or any time in between. It's one factor in my wife's and my desire to move farther east when she retires in a few years. Hood River and places east won't be devastated, but I'm sure there will be economic repercussions for any place that relies on Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and so on for supplies. I also don't know where all the refugees will go. "You pays your money, and you takes your chances," as my parents used to say.

just spent 24 years in SF... so yeah....worried?, notso much, just get insurance, try not to have unreinforced masonry, etc....
I was thinking to replenish my supply of dehydrated camping food though, and a stockpile of clean water isn't a bad idea though... for a lot of emergencies....

[Hockeygirl063]

Not worried at all if it happens it does there is NO way to stop. the only thing is being prepared so you can survive without services.

Could happen tomorrow or not for a 100 years. So why waste energy on something that most likely will not happen

[Dwayne Lassiter]

The OHELP link, see above, provides very interesting information with regard to geology and land stability, but if you type in a street address, it picks out a spot that is MILES away. So, next to useless as a reference tool.

[therese marie]

Originally Posted by Dwayne Lassiter

The OHELP link, see above, provides very interesting information with regard to geology and land stability, but if you type in a street address, it picks out a spot that is MILES away. So, next to useless as a reference tool.

Well like you said, it is a tool, not a crystal ball LOL

[Oregone]

The latest (of ongoing) research indicates the offshore subduction zone ‘breaks’ twice as often toward its southern end; roughly offshore of Coos Bay/ North Bend Oregon. Those cause quakes of lesser size; an 8 compared to a 9. Portland would still suffer major damage, but not near the devastation of a break occurring the full length of the (small) plate. Here’s a full-break visual
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qKXfQpSkeo

Walking downtown Portland with a daughter well educated in geology, I commented on the multitude of brick buildings and described estimates of 4 feet of glass and rubble in the streets after the ‘big one.’ She feared ‘the water,’ the instantly rising Willamette River backing up due to a multitude of major landslides into the Columbia River between Portland and the coast…

In large part, I’m no longer in Oregon due to this concern. A Native O, I’ve decided extending my family's roots in Oregon would be a major mistake. Now 3,000 miles away, I await family planning the same. The flora and fauna of Oregon will survive just fine, leaving it ‘a nice place to visit,’ but the infrastructure would be gone, likely forever ~

[Oregone]

Two, like the following, just today, right at the 'trigger point' -- Earthquake - Magnitude 4.8 - OFF COAST OF OREGON - 2016 November 28, 04:34:41 UTC

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by Dwayne Lassiter

The OHELP link, see above, provides very interesting information with regard to geology and land stability, but if you type in a street address, it picks out a spot that is MILES away. So, next to useless as a reference tool.

Not for me. Plots right on my lot when I type in my address.