AP: Congress told West Coast could have next tsunami

[question everything]

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Congress told West Coast could have next tsunami
By NIKI SULLIVAN
Associated Press

(snip)

If a big quake starts in the so-called Cascadia subduction zone, which stretches from northern California to southern Canada, the ground-shaking could be felt well into the eastern reaches of Oregon, Washington and California, researchers said at a Friday briefing convened by U.S. Rep Darlene Hooley, D-Ore.

"Could what happened in Sumatra happen to us? Absolutely, yes," said Vicki McConnell, a geologist for the state.

Experts said Oregon is considered relatively well-prepared to respond to most moderate to large offshore quakes, but a 9.0 quake, like the one that hit in the Indian Ocean, could severely damage roadways, bridges and tunnels not to mention sending the ground shaking like gelatin for about four minutes.


(snip)

The last tsunami to hit Oregon about 300 years ago was caused by an offshore quake that drowned coastal forests and sent large waves to Japan, destroying fishing villages. Scientists have calculated a major earthquake happens in the area once every 300 to 1,000 years, according to Jay Wilson, earthquake and tsunami program coordinator for the state's Office of Homeland Security.

More..

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~2641259,00.html#

[saltpoint]

1. Why, that Karl Rove will stop at NOTHING --

-- to teach Barbara Boxer a lesson.

[hilster]

2. Oregon

I'm from Oregon, and my house is on stilts (i.e. on the side of a hill). Ugh. Let's hope this isn't true.

[MissB]

6. Of course it is true

It is Oregon. The subduction zone is well known. The ability for this area to experience a large earthquake (even possibly a 9.0) is well known.

Liquefaction is the really scary stuff. That'd be the gelatin stuff they're talking about. IIRC, it has to do with the void spaces in the soil being compacted, destabilizing the soil.

[leesa]

10. Sorry, but if you buy a house on the coast on stilts, you should plan for

this possibility. I don't have much sympathy for people who lose their houses this way.

[hilster]

16. coastal house

My house is not on the coast. It's outisde of Portland on the lower further foothills of Mt. Hood.

[Journeyman]

3. Yeah, well, I could make self-serving wild speculations. . .

to enhance my job prospects, too.

I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but I hold every statement from interested parties suspect in the immediate aftermath of any disaster. Take a look sometime at how often predictions of "the big one's coming soon" are made in the wake of any earthquake of moderate size in California. And in every instance, the dire predictions of potential disaster are accompanied by requests for an increase in the predictor's budget. Maybe it should, perhaps it isn't needed, but any decisions must be made devoid of irrational fear.

There are plenty of dire situations and potential calamities sprinkled throughout our lives. The mark of a mature society is making realistic responses to the challenges we face.

[Parche]

4. sue nami

And the sun can rise in the west

Anything can happen, i dont know why they have to "scare" people
right now, but we all know its their way of doing business

[democrat in Tallahassee]

5. of course, those people are pagans and democrats. don't love jesus

foolish people

[FlemingsGhost]

7. Waves of Mass Destruction

Who, or what, can we preemptively bomb in order to stop this grave threat?

I mean ... c'mon! The earth is drowning its own people.

[haele]

8. The East Coast can have the next Tsunami, also...

The next century, next month, or next week, or tomorrow, or half an hour from now... From a major quake or landslide off Bimini, Cape Verde, Iceland, or the Azores. And it wouldn't take as long to hit the East Coast as a major Alaska or Japanese quake would to hit Oregon or California - perhaps three hours from off the Azores to hit Florida.

And it would be much more deadly because while the West Coast has lots of cliff face to break a wave and not a lot of shallow seafloor coming up to the populated beaches, the East Coast has very little natural protection over a much wider swath of coastline. A quickly moving 1000 mile wide tsunami front of 35 ft in height would do how much damage to Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas?

California, Oregon, Alaska, and Hawaii have already experienced major tsunamis this last century - and have some procedures and building codes in place to deal with tidal flooding and tsunamis. Yeah, they all need a bit more tweaking - but still, with the ability to send out warnings quickly and fairly accurately, emergency services can be set up to handle the aftermath quickly and efficiently.
I would prefer that instead of people screaming "the sky is falling" in pointing out a particular areas where people already know there's a danger, they look at the overall state of preparedness nationwide. The East Coast has a lot more tsunami disaster preparedness to do than the West Coast - moreso because there's a public misconception that "it happens to those guys, why do we have to worry?"

Just my two cents.

Haele

[question everything]

15. I thought that the East Coast is expected to be hit by a meteor

in 2888...

[AtLiberty]

9. LOL

Al Franken had an earthquake expert on his show last week. There was this big, dramatic build-up of the question, "Could a tsunami hit here?"

The expert answered, "No."

That was the end of the interview. Shop closed. lol

[Newfoundland]

11. You think that is bad?

Wait until you hear how many man-eating sharks will be washed in with the tidal wave this time! Better get your shark-proof earmuffs on now.

[CatholicEdHead]

12. Geologic time frame

Given that 300-1000 year time window leaves lots of error. If we are 300 years past the last one, then sometime in the next 700 or so years it could happen.

Given that, to freak out now is needless.

[stillcool]

13. Will duct tape ,plastic sheeting, and

bottled water keep me safe?

[shance]

14. Imagine that! I could have sworn we were just talking about this.

Another timely "coinky dink"!