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Study Shows Seattle Fault May Have Origins in Ancient Tear in Continent

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  Seattle fault

The Seattle fault zone is a network of shallow faults slicing through the lowlands of Puget Sound, threatening to create damaging earthquakes for the more than four million people who live there. A new origin story, proposed by Washington State Department of Natural Resources geophysicist Megan Anderson and others in a new study, could explain the fault system’s earliest history and help scientists improve hazard modeling for the densely populated region.

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.

North America facing 'megadrought'?

Western North America experienced the strongest drought in 800 years from 2000 to 2004 – but that may be the new normal for the next century. Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America – pg 551 – 556, by a group of 10 researchers in the current issue of Nature Geoscience, looks at the reduced carbon uptake (by 51%) in drought stressed forests, based on a study of the 2000-2004 drought throughout western North America.

Update on New Scientific Research of Earthquake Hazards to Seattle

Art Frankel and Craig Weaver of the U.S. Geological Survey gave a presentation to the Seattle City Council on Monday (as noted in this agenda) that has raised some eyebrows – and reaffirms our sensitivity to upcoming seismic disturbances. See their PowerPoint presentation or read on for a few copies of a few of their slides.

USGS Seismic Hazards Investigations in the Puget Sound

An ‘ongoing’ effort (but apparently in abeyance since 2002?!) to create an accurate seismic model for the Puget Sound region and British Columbia is the USGS’ Seismic Hazards Investigations in the Puget Sound (SHIPS) project. Since March 1998 SHIPS has conducted a series of seismic studies to better describe earthquake hazards in the Puget Lowland and British Columbia.

Is Vashon at Risk for Tsunamis?

Most folks think of an overseas or Cascadia based quake as generating a terrible tsunami – and they are right. However such a tsunami is not likely to cause massive damage to Vashon from what I’ve heard – largely due to the moderating influence of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. (It will be interesting to verify this at our upcoming April 18th community meeting with Washington State experts).

Cascadia Quake Potentially More Damaging than San Andreas or Japan’s Tōhoku

In “Quake catastrophe like Japan's could hit Pacific Northwest, new data show” M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com also reports on last month’s reports at the American Association for the Advancement of Science – noting that the Cascadia quake has numerous parallels with Japan’s Tōhoku disaster one year ago.

38% of Americans Never Considered Getting Prepared; 20% to “Wing It”!

Not too surprisingly, disaster preparedness is not at the forefront of most Americans priority – but many don’t even have any plans. The original research was done by the Persuadable Research Corporation with reports of the survey released by PRWeb and the Homeland Security News Wire.

Cascadia Mega-Quake Threat-- Even Larger than Previously Thought?

Japan’s Tohoku earthquake last year has provided valuable data that is altering scientists’ understanding of our local Cascadia earthquake potential. Geologists have documented some 22 megaquakes over the last 10,000 years - every 200 to 1,000 years, averaging some 500 years. The region’s last was on January 26, 1700.

Do you know Washington’s four kinds of earthquake sources?

Cascadia Subduction Zone
Example: the 1700 earthquake that caused shaking and a tsunami that inundated the Oregon coast and reached as far as Japan.

Global Warming Moves us Closer to the Ultimate Disaster

Doomsday clock moves closer to midnight

Numerous articles (including USA Today’s) note that scientists have moved the hands of the doomsday clock toward midnight – as a visible metaphor for our lessened security due to our fuelish ways.  It is notoriously hard to change our social (i.e., automotive) ways, but the consequences of our not taking a long term view are increasingly resulting in massive storm and economic damage today to societies across the globe.

DHS-- Fusion Centers & EOCs Need to Talk

According to the inspector general (IG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), state and local fusion centers and emergency operations centers could improve the response of their jurisdictions to terrorism and natural disasters if they talked to each other more often. Many fusion centers and EOCs surveyed do not exchange information.

Cost of Global Warming Apparent as US Reaches 12th Mega-Disasters in 2011-- each over a Billion $

CBS notes that this year’s 12 disasters costing over 1 billion dollars each surpasses the number seen during all the 1980’s – even with inflation adjustments. In associated reports they note that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report indicated that additional small and large disasters can be expected with global warming.

FEMA computer predicts massive damage from Seattle quake

The Associated Press came to this week’s 5th Annual Hazus conference held at the federal building and wrote up a nice piece citing (yet again) that we are not ready for the huge quakes possible from any number of faults, but especially the Seattle and Cascadia faults:

Science & Analysis of Japanese Quake Paints a Grim Message for the Northwest

Oregon and Washington are likely to have a very serious earthquake in future decades, according to a disturbing article in the Oregonian.

FEMA Releases “Earthquake-Resistant Design Concepts-- An Introduction to the NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures”, FEMA P-749

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is pleased to announce that Earthquake-Resistant Design Concepts: An Introduction to the NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures, FEMA P-749, is now available, at no cost, from the Publications Warehouse and online from the FEMA Library.

Don Price Headed Mississippi ESF-6 Efforts

I heard that “our” very own Don Price recently served as the head of ESF-6 for FEMA’s recovery efforts in Mississippi! He and other locals who have been serving afield will present their debrief on Tuesday, June 21^st, from 1 – 3 PM. The location is the King County Office of Emergency Management Room 114 – Main Coordination Center.

SEAW Engineers to Present Observations from Japanese Earthquake Reconnaissance

Seattle, Washington, June 1, 2011 – On Friday, March 11, 2011 at 2:46 PM (local time), the northeast coast of Japan was struck by a magnitude 9.0 (M9.0) subduction earthquake as the boundary between the Pacific and the North American plates ruptured along an offshore section. The rupture extended about 200 miles along the Japan coast, resulting in approximately 100 feet of vertical slip and causing a series of devastating tsunamis. A similar event along the Cascadia Subduction Zone could extend from Vancouver Island to Northern California, affecting western Washington and Oregon communities.

5th Annual National HAZUS Conference set for Seattle, August 10-12

Mark your calendars!  The Annual Hazus Conference will be held in Seattle, Washington, August 10 – 12, 2011, at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building. 

Pacific Northwest Geodetic Array Quantifies Earthquakes

Scientists now can track the minuscule motions of shifting plates as they happen, thanks to an expanded network of GPS sensors that covers the region like a blanket and beams back data almost instantly.

VashonBePrepared Meeting to Discuss Little Known Vashon Earthquake Hazard

In just the last two years, federal earthquake scientists have completed analysis of the Tacoma Fault. As it turns out, the Tacoma Fault actually runs directly across the center of Vashon, the community that could be most affected if it ruptures. The latest computer analysis indicates that shaking from the fault could be as severe as the recent earthquakes in Christchurch and Sendai. That makes it doubly or even triply important for all of us to be prepared to sustain ourselves for as long as 10 days at home until help can arrive.

Japanese Internet Stays Up – even When Electricity Doesn’t

Today's 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan has had surprisingly limited impacts on the structure and routing dynamics of the regional Internet. Of roughly 6,000 Japanese network prefixes in the global routing table, only about 100 were temporarily withdrawn from service — and that number has actually decreased in the hours since the event. Other carriers around the region have reported congestion and drops in traffic due to follow-on effects of the quake, but most websites are up and operational, and the Internet is available to support critical communications.

Quake shifts Japan 13’ East

“This week's earthquake caused the main island of Japan to shift as much as 13 feet to the east, seismologists say. That may sound like a shocker, but it's just one of the natural changes that come along with an 8.9-magnitude temblor — like the 1.6-microsecond speed-up of Earth's daily rotation and the 4-inch shift in Earth's axis.”

Chile Recovers From 2010 M8.8 Earthquake

Bellevue’s MRP Engineering has a new engineering bulletin entitled Chile Recovers From 2010 M8.8 Earthquake that looks at progress made since their M8.8 earthquake February 27th, 2010. It concludes with these implications:

California's 'Big One' could be a flood

California has more risk of catastrophic storms than any other region in the country – even the Southern hurricane states, according to a new study released Thursday.

Report-- We’re Not Ready For Bioterrorism

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Report--We-re-Not-Ready-For-Bioterrorism/2010-12-28/Article.aspx?oid=1294626&fid= has the following of some interest:

If a major disease incident or bioterrorism attack were to occur today, the United States would not be read for it. That’s according to a new report supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
In fact, the report says “there’s an emergency for emergency health preparedness in the United States.” It calls attention to significant local, state and federal budget cuts and the impact they have had on public health departments’ ability to maintain staff capabilities, and their ability to respond to crises.
Key findings include:
* 21 states were not able to rapidly identify disease-causing E.coli O157:H7 and submit the lab results in 90 percent of cases within four days during 2007-2008.
* 33 states and D.C. cut funding for public health from Fiscal Year 2008-2009 to FY 2009-2010.
* Seven states can not currently share data electronically with health care providers.
* 10 states do not have an electronic syndrome surveillance system that can report and exchange information.
* Six states reported that pre-identified staff were not able to acknowledge notification of emergency exercises or incidents within the target time of 60 minutes at least twice during 2007-2008.
* Six states did not activate their emergency operations center a minimum of two times in 2007-2008.
* Two states did not develop at least two After-Action Report/Improvement Plans (AAR/IPs) after exercises or real incidents in 2007-2008.
View the complete report.
Source: Dairy Herd Management, Meatingplace

The positive evolution of world longevity and economic prosperity

(./images/35/WLW-Thepositiveevolutionofworldlongevityande_9185-video99df92fa7485.jpg) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo

A Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake in the Tacoma Fault Zone—A Plausible Scenario for Downtown Vashon

This is (nearly) the title of the latest USGS fact sheet #3023 summarizing what could happen if a 7.1 earthquake happened along the Tacoma Fault Zone, as recently modeled by scientists.

Seattle Faults

If you’ve not seen it, there is a good map of local faults, with a brief write-up at www.pnsn.org/INFO_GENERAL/puget_faults.html