2014

Twin Reports Indicate Oceans May Rise Higher & Much Faster

Two joint studies are out this week and indicate that the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2013’s predictions of a global sea rise of a bit over 3 feet by the end of the century could be way off.

Vashon Now Sports Five Weather Stations

Personal weather stations (PWS) supplement public weather stations, such as those at airports. Given the right equipment, citizens with a PWS can share their weather data with a number of services who will aggregate the data and help collectively provide better weather forecasts for the region.

West Coast to Get Free Early Earthquake Warnings

According to the LA Times, the entire west coast should get access to the first generation of early earthquake warnings as early as next year. Dependent on congress’ upcoming vote, the budget would be some $16 million annually.

WSDOT Winter Driving Supply Checklist

Neighborhood preparedness begins at home - and in the car, because we never know where we’ll be when things get interesting. I saw a post from WSDOT this morning on Facebook that seems worth sharing - over the weekend, the passes got some harsher weather than expected. Click on the link below to view and print the Winter Driving Supply Checklist. I’m going to see how many items I can check off that are already in the back of my car - wish me luck. How did you do?

Are YOU Prepared for a Landslide?

Seattle to host Nov. 18th Twitter event to take questions about landslides

Red Cross Continues to Add to their Numerous Apps

The American Red Cross has released a slew of apps for the Android and Apple marketplace.

National Weather Service Serves up Winter Weather for Winter Weather Awareness Week

[](http://www.weather.gov/satellite?image=ir)Most folks believe the National Weather Service just reports on the weather – but I remain skeptical. I actually think they know how to control it – when it fits their key goals. As conclusive proof, realize that the NWS proclaimed this week as _[“Winter Weather Awareness Week”](http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/wrh/seasonal/winterAwareness/?wfo=sew)_. As a direct result – not coincidentally as many naively assume – the nation is going to be plunged into dramatic Winter Weather. Is this a dramatic publicity stunt? One has to wonder. Regardless, whether we want it or not, be aware that [Western Washington will be plunged into freezing weather over the next few days](http://www.king5.com/story/weather/2014/11/09/freezing-temperatures-western-washington/18764343/). Much of the rest of the country will see much [worse weather](http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/nfdscc3.html) – with bitter cold and heavy snows. Although suspicious, I assure you my previous blog – with guidance for Vashon’s Winter Weather – was purely coincidental. Despite what others say…

Vashon-Maury Island Radio Club Holds LACC and Repeater Show and Tell

Over 25 ham radio operators showed up for the local amateur radio club’s bimonthly meeting tonight at Vashon’s Emergency Operations Center.

Earthquake Resources

Here are some interesting resource pages for Earthquakes:

Earthquakes Data Magnitude 5.0 and Over 2005 - 2014
http://krilloil.com/blog/earthquake-data/

Seattle Fault Grows After Last Wednesday’s M4.0 Quake

At least our knowledge of the Seattle Fault’s extent grew. This is according to USGS researcher Craig Weaver, as quoted in today’s Seattle Times article.

Washingtons ‘Shake Alert’ Earthquake Warning System Would Need $17M Annually

According to UW’s John Vidale, as reported by KING-TV and The Seattle Times, getting an early warning system in place for WA would cost some $17 million annually. We’ve a rudimentary system, but that’s seemingly not ready for prime time. It apparently is a priority for California’s legislators, but not (quite yet) ours. Maybe that will change!

Updated Federal Quake Map Makes King 5 News

As we reported a month ago, the USGS has released a new earthquake map. King 5’s recent story on this is at:

Humans are Responsible for Many Disasters–The Infographic

I haven’t vetted the following claims, but suspect they are readily verified. All too often the short term gain is overwhelmed by the long-term consequences…

Now Available - Reducing the Risks of Nonstructural Earthquake Damage-A Practical Guide

The recent August 24, 2014 earthquake outside of Napa, California again demonstrated the seismic risk posed by a building’s nonstructural components. In general, the components of a building’s structural system that support the building and keep it standing—the frame, walls, and roof—performed very well in the Napa Valley earthquake. However, the nonstructural components of a building—the cladding, interior walls, ceilings, utilities, and contents – were responsible for more than 90 percent of the damage.

We're close to having our own radio station on Vashon!

Voice of Vashon has started construction on Vashon’s new radio station KVSH, building as funds come in. And Islanders donated over $3,000 at Strawberry Festival so their fundraising campaign is at 93% of the $50,000 goal.

New View of Rainier’s Volcanic Plumbing

This map shows, in purple and pink, the west-east line of magnetotelluric sensors that were placed north of Washington state’s Mount Rainier to study the volcanic plumbing system under the volcano. The sensors detect how the ground resists or conducts natural electricity within the Earth. Shown in yellow are seismic sensors that detect how fast or slow sound or seismic waves travel underground. Both methods were used in a new study that provides the most detailed look yet at the subterranean plumbing system that supplies the active volcano.

USGS Releases New U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps–Now Incorporating the Tacoma Fault

From http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/new-insight-on-the-nations-earthquake-hazards/

“Important changes in Washington are related to the addition of the Tacoma fault and changes to the South Whidbey Island fault. The Seattle region hazard has not changed significantly because we use a very similar model for the Seattle fault as was applied in 2008. We have not modified this fault using the geodetic model.” from the USGS report, Pg. 192

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Vashon Beer Prepared–not to be Confused with VashonBePrepared!

Please don’t confuse VashonBePrepared with Cliff Goodman’s neat new Kickstarter campaign just down the road: Vashon Beer Prepared!

Asking Untrained Volunteers to Pitch In?

While there have been numerous historical problems (victim & rescuer safety, communication and conflicted goals) with asking untrained volunteers to help out during disasters, they were invaluable in the recent Oso slide rescue effort. It is pretty clear that they are very useful in a number of situations with some supervision or initial vetting.

Many Landslides Accidentally Caused by Human Activity

According to this recent KOMO News piece, Seattle is warning residents to not inadvertently cause landslides.

Unincorporated King County to be Remapped using Lidar

According to this KOMO News piece, King County unveiled Monday, May 5th an initiative to re-map unincorporated county land over the next two years partially to help identify potential landslide areas.

NWHRN Healthcare Business Resiliency Workshop–June 10th

Join the Network’s Business Resiliency Workshop - June 10, 2014!

This one-day workshop by the Northwest Healthcare Response Network will help non-hospital healthcare organizations learn the fundamentals of business resiliency. Participants acquire 
tools to help their organization stay open, or to re-open rapidly after a disaster, to continue to care for clients. A newly updated workbook is included to assist in developing a facility’s Resiliency Plan. Each participant will receive a business resiliency workbook to assist in developing an emergency operations plan for his/her organization, and time in class to work on their plan. Business resilience teams are encouraged to come together.

New NY Times Special Report-- Promises of Preparedness Followed Devastating Earthquakes. And Yet.

Somewhat serendipitously, the New York Times Retro Report has come out with a special report on earthquake preparedness published April 13th – the same month as the Pacific Northwest’s 1949 and 1965 earthquakes.

Two Earthquake Talks at Town Hall on April 24th

Thursday, April 24, 2014, 6:00 – 7:00pm

UW Science Now

Shelley Chestler: Slow Earthquakes

Michelle Weirathmueller: Quakes and Whales

Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5. Double Feature!

2014 Communications Academy - March 22-23, 2014

Calling all Radioheads … and anyone else who wants to learn more about volunteer emergency communications!

Voice of Vashon Receives Permit for New Station at 101.9 FM!

Friday February 21, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved Voice of Vashon’s (VoV) application for an FM radio station – along with over 1000 other low-power FM applicants nationwide.

2013 Disasters-- Not so Expensive for the US, More so for Europe

“For the first time in two decades, the world’s costliest natural disasters in 2013 were not in the USA, according to a report released today by Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurance firm. Last year, the most expensive weather disasters were in Europe, which included floods in central Europe and hailstorms in Germany.” (USA Today)

Supervolcano Eruptions More Likely, as they can be Triggered by Melt Buoyancy

A graph showing the relationship between eruption volume and time between eruptions, using the models presented in Carrichi and others (2014). Notice how for buoyancy-driven eruptions (in blue), the time between eruptions doesn’t vary much across a wide range of volumes. Image: Figure 3 from Caricchi and others (2014), Nature Geoscience.

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