Will the Cascadia Earthquake be the Worst Disaster North America’s Ever Seen? | Weathered
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Published 2021-03-15
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The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a sleeping monster lurking just off the Northwest coast of the United States. It extends 600 miles between Northern California and Vancouver B.C. and experiences a massive megathrust earthquake every 250 years on average. The last one happened 321 years ago and scientists say there is a 30% chance we’ll see another in the next 50 years. It’s expected to rival the 9.0 quake that shook Japan for 6 minutes, which was the most destructive natural disaster in human history. It unleashed a tsunami that reached 100 feet in some areas, caused an estimated $360 billion in damages and claimed some 16,000 lives.
If this sounds ominous, that’s because it is. As catastrophic as the Tohoku quake was, Japan is light years ahead of the United States when it comes to earthquake preparedness. This grim reality has many experts very worried. And in this episode of Weathered we spoke with some of them about what we can expect when the “Big One” does hit, the kinds of work that need to be done to make our communities more resilient, and what you can do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.
Weathered is a show hosted by meteorologist Maiya May and produced by Balance Media that helps explain the most common natural disasters, what causes them, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare.
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All Comments (21)
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When this happens, the immediate response by politicians will be "No one could have predicted this."
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Me living in my 1921 house in Portland “You know what, my room is going to be a nice grave, it has all my favorite stuff.”
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I grew up in Seaside, Oregon and we did tsunami drills in preparation for The Big One. Never once did we make it to high ground in time, and that was with the bridges intact. They told us the bridges would collapse and our odds were extremely slim that we'd survive. Great way to grow up, lol
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the crazy thing about a magnitude 9 earthquake is that it can resonate through the entire earth like the on in Indonesia in 2004. That earthquake triggered other earthquakes around the world, as far away as Alaska. The power in an earthquake this size is just truly unimaginable. The 4-5 minutes of earthquake releases more energy than humans have used in their existence, including fires, actually more like 1000x more.
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if yellow stone doesn't erupt Cascadia: "Fine I'll do it myself"
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took a class on this at psu and then had to walk back to my 100 year old dorm building
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I was at a social dinner in Astoria (population 10k). The mayor of Warrenton (pop. 8k) was talking about the efforts of installing a tsunami early warning system. Warrenton is located where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean...it's basically a wetland. What he said stopped me in my tracks. The mayor said they paid a consultant to provide a study about a possible tsunami event...the not if but when event. The consultant predicted a 70% non survival rate (6000 deaths). I'm not hear to create fear. I'm yacking to heighten awareness.
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Watching the end made me realize something. There really should be a new preppers show, but without the subtle mockery, ensuring there are science-based, realistic examples coupled with helpful advice. I'd definitely binge watch that.
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My mother in law was a girl during the 1964 Alaska earthquake (9.2) and she said she saw bricks shoot out of buildings like bullets
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I helped to install tsunami warning sirens on the Washington Coast before I retired. I took part in disaster planning exercises for my employer. I now make emergency bug out bags for my family and friends as presents. My adult children no longer call me over cautious. Everyone on the Pacific Northwest Coast needs to be prepared for a disaster.
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As a Chilean, You guys need to prepare your infrastructure for this. Not particularly just to resist, nono. You have to prepare plans to get out of there. Evac routes, Safe zones, etc. It'll come, so don't get caught lacking.
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as a california west coast born and raised, can confirm ive only ever heard this quake be referred to as "the big one" by everyone i know. all my family not on the west coast is terrified for us, and all my family here stopped caring about it bc of how many times people have falsely predicted it
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The fact that the fault is estimated to be within a mile from my house, I think its safe to say that if it hits, I'm completely screwed.
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“Make sure your furniture and TV is secured to the wall”. Apartment companies: “How dare you screw things into our walls.”
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Maiya is an excellent presenter. Really does a great job speaking and presenting the info. She turned a possibly boring subject into something wayyyyyy more interesting. Just subscribed to the channel.
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How the heck did they think we lived in a "quiet spot" when we are surrounded by mountains, volcanoes, and native history of tidal waves?
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"These bridges were built before plate tectonics." Wow, that's old!
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Turning off the gas would be the last thing on my mind while trying to run away from a 100ft wave
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3 minutes?!?!?!?!? That’s got to feel like an eternity in earthquake time
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You guys are doing a really great public service with this channel. The information is fascinating, accurate, and USEFUL! Thank you!
