Earthquakes/tsunamis in WA (Seattle, Tacoma: cinema, construction, codes)

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by leastprime

@chahnt;
Son informed me this morning that he increased our HOA fee by 8% for building earthquake insurance .

Well, the board would have been required to take a vote, and apparently most voted for the insurance.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by chahunt

Agreed. But the article states that a quake of that magnitude is overdue for the Cascadia region. So in other words those devastating consequences could happen at any moment. There are so many perks to the PNW, but "the big one" is depressing to think about. And one could all but guarantee the freeways would be in ruin.

The pacific ring of fire has been quite active with large magnitude earthquakes in the past decade and beyond. However the North America region remains silent..for how much longer, unknown. The article says something about the effect being felt from Vancouver B.C. all the way down to Sacramento. That's terrible.

I appreciate your post, and I hopefully will correct some of the myths.

First, and I have posted in various threads before, the Great Subductive Quake off the BC/WA/OR coast is indeed overdue. It last occurred in 1700, (proven), and the window is 300-500 years. So, as I have said many times before, WE ARE IN THE WINDOW!. However, this quake could happen tomorrow or never in our lifetimes.

As for destruction in the inland cities of Seattle and Portland, there is no question there will be damage. How heavy is the question. A lot of experts expect this great quake will primarily shake the coastal areas, with lesser shaking inland. Mudslides could be a problem, as could early 20th century brick and mortar structures. Most will agree that skyscarapers built after about 1980 will survive. More worrisome would be highway overpasses. But overall, from all expert opinion, Seattle and Portland will suffer some damage, but not be wiped out. Coastal areas continue to be the real concern.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

I appreciate your post, and I hopefully will correct some of the myths.

First, and I have posted in various threads before, the Great Subductive Quake off the BC/WA/OR coast is indeed overdue. It last occurred in 1700, (proven), and the window is 300-500 years. So, as I have said many times before, WE ARE IN THE WINDOW!. However, this quake could happen tomorrow or never in our lifetimes.

As for destruction in the inland cities of Seattle and Portland, there is no question there will be damage. How heavy is the question. A lot of experts expect this great quake will primarily shake the coastal areas, with lesser shaking inland. Mudslides could be a problem, as could early 20th century brick and mortar structures. Most will agree that skyscarapers built after about 1980 will survive. More worrisome would be highway overpasses. But overall, from all expert opinion, Seattle and Portland will suffer some damage, but not be wiped out. Coastal areas continue to be the real concern.

Exactly. But I would not use the word overdue. We’ve received the bill, but it’s not yet past due. But it could happen any day.

[leastprime]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Well, the board would have been required to take a vote, and apparently most voted for the insurance.

He's on the board as our proxy.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

I appreciate your post, and I hopefully will correct some of the myths.

First, and I have posted in various threads before, the Great Subductive Quake off the BC/WA/OR coast is indeed overdue. It last occurred in 1700, (proven), and the window is 300-500 years. So, as I have said many times before, WE ARE IN THE WINDOW!. However, this quake could happen tomorrow or never in our lifetimes.

Actually, the range of the intervals between subduction earthquakes off the Washington-Oregon coast has run from 210 years at the short-end to 910 years at the long-end, with an average interval of 480 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascad..._zone#Activity

So, it could happen tomorrow, within the next 180 years (the average), or not for another 610 years or longer. So, tomorrow or not within six or seven "lifetimes". Or as long as 20 generations (with a generation = 30 years), which would be on the far outward bound for "disaster planning". Global warming/climate change poses a much more immediate threat, with significate sea-level rises predicted within the next 25-50 years.

The highest risk would be along the coast, at Ocean Shores, Westport, or Long Beach, for instance, wbalhich, being built on sand spits, could literally be wiped off the map by a major tsunami. The largest population center under direct threat from a major tsunami would be Aberdeen-Hoquiam (30,000 pop.).

Kitsap would get a strong shake, but, if not in a flood zone or slide area, you should be relatively okay.

[Code Stemi]

Originally Posted by UsAll

If this is, in fact, true, I find this to be simply UNBELIEVABLE and UNACCEPTABLE!!!!! How could a major metropolis (a CMSA or Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area) like Greater Seattle/Puget Sound, WA have ONLY ONE single Level I Trauma Center????!!??!!???!?????????

Even a host of measurably smaller cities/metro areas around the USA have more than one Level I Trauma Center to serve them (along with Level II, Level III, et al to complement their existing Level I centers). How could the "powers-that-be" of the region and the state allow such a situation to prevail like this? That fact ALONE, if true, would hinder me from moving to that region.

It is dismaying, I agree. Seattle Metro will be in trouble if this happens before they establish more major trauma centers. There are large metros within the US that only have a single Level 1 trauma center, for example Las Vegas and Nashville. Compared to Phoenix that has > 6 Level 1 centers in the metro. Ironically Phoenix is nearly immune to natural disasters.

Originally Posted by leastprime

@chahnt;
Son informed me this morning that he increased our HOA fee by 8% for building earthquake insurance .

Wise move on his part.

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

I appreciate your post, and I hopefully will correct some of the myths.

First, and I have posted in various threads before, the Great Subductive Quake off the BC/WA/OR coast is indeed overdue. It last occurred in 1700, (proven), and the window is 300-500 years. So, as I have said many times before, WE ARE IN THE WINDOW!. However, this quake could happen tomorrow or never in our lifetimes.

As for destruction in the inland cities of Seattle and Portland, there is no question there will be damage. How heavy is the question. A lot of experts expect this great quake will primarily shake the coastal areas, with lesser shaking inland. Mudslides could be a problem, as could early 20th century brick and mortar structures. Most will agree that skyscarapers built after about 1980 will survive. More worrisome would be highway overpasses. But overall, from all expert opinion, Seattle and Portland will suffer some damage, but not be wiped out. Coastal areas continue to be the real concern.

Yes it may not even be in our lifetime, but it could very well be and that's what's frightening/concerning. The article that I originally listed states that devastation will be at near catastrophic levels in the Cascadia region. It has some really interesting info in that piece. Not to mention liquefaction which will be responsible for tremendous amounts of damage within the city. Is it really worth it to live up there? I want to say yes. But know the very real risks.

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Kitsap would get a strong shake, but, if not in a flood zone or slide area, you should be relatively okay.

Hopefully so but who knows where liquefaction would result?

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by chahunt

Hopefully so but who knows where liquefaction would result?

Liquefaction is more likely on the "flats" (flood plain or "fill" areas). If on solid bedrock, safely above the high water mark, and not on or below a slide area, chances are you'll, in Kitsap, get a strong shake, but, on the whole, not much more.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by grega94

you shouldn't worry about tsunamis unless you plan to live on the water front, it's pretty rare for a tsunami in any part of the world to be higher than 50 feet, and most people in the Puget sound region live above 150ft and many parts go above 300ft, in either case if you are afraid of tsunamis live up on a hill. As for earthquakes, well many parts of the world experience them and they are still standing, so I wouldn't stress about it too much, just make sure that the house/apartment you live in is newer and up to earthquake codes.

Here is a map of the fault lines in the region.

WOW!! I've never seen a map of fault zones in Puget Sound! I'm very familiar with the Bay Area fault zones, but I've never seen THIS! Thank you, Grega! You're always so good with pulling up all manner of useful info! Could you find a smiler map for the north Sound (Bellingham area) and the southern WA coast?

[grega94]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

WOW!! I've never seen a map of fault zones in Puget Sound! I'm very familiar with the Bay Area fault zones, but I've never seen THIS! Thank you, Grega! You're always so good with pulling up all manner of useful info! Could you find a smiler map for the north Sound (Bellingham area) and the southern WA coast?

not sure how accurate these maps exactly are, but I found one.


https://i.pinimg.com/564x/2b/9c/bb/2...3bd883acdc.jpg

[josie13]

Originally Posted by UsAll

If this is, in fact, true, I find this to be simply UNBELIEVABLE and UNACCEPTABLE!!!!! How could a major metropolis (a CMSA or Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area) like Greater Seattle/Puget Sound, WA have ONLY ONE single Level I Trauma Center????!!??!!???!?????????

Even a host of measurably smaller cities/metro areas around the USA have more than one Level I Trauma Center to serve them (along with Level II, Level III, et al to complement their existing Level I centers). How could the "powers-that-be" of the region and the state allow such a situation to prevail like this? That fact ALONE, if true, would hinder me from moving to that region.

The entire state of Washington has only one Level I Trauma Center: Harborview.

There are plenty of other Trauma Centers in the area and throughout the state, but they are not Level I.

https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Doc...ubs/530101.pdf

For comparison, LA county has four Level I Trauma Centers, but LA county has a population of more than 10 million people. Contrast that with the entire state of Washington, which has roughly 7.4 million people, many of whom can be choppered into Harborview rather quickly.