Seattle’s Pioneer Square district after Feb. 28, 2001 quake.
Photo credit: Elaine Thompson AP file, 2001

– “June 7: FEMA Will Hold A Drill To Prepare For A 9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake And Tsunami”
“Starting on June 7th, FEMA will be conducting a large scale drill that has been named “Cascadia Rising” that will simulate the effects of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone and an accompanying west coast tsunami dozens of feet tall. According to the official flyer for the event, more than “50 counties, plus major cities, tribal nations, state and federal agencies, private sector businesses, and non-governmental organizations across three states – Washington, Oregon, and Idaho – will be participating”. In addition to “Cascadia Rising”, U.S. Northern Command will be holding five other exercises simultaneously. According to the final draft of the Cascadia Rising drill plan, those five exercises are entitled “Ardent Sentry 2016″, “Vigilant Guard”, “Special Focus Exercise”, “Turbo Challenge” and “Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore”.,” quoting Michael Snyder, The Event Chronicle.
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– “Buildings that kill: The earthquake danger lawmakers have ignored for decades”
“Seismic Neglect: Seattle officials have been counting earthquake-vulnerable buildings since the early 1990s, but no law requires the structures to be strengthened,” quoting Daniel Gilbert and Sandi Doughton,
The Seattle Times.
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– “SEISMIC NEGLECT”
“The earthquake nightmare public officials are failing to confront”
“Today, about 5.4 million people in Washington live in the zone endangered by a magnitude 9.0 Cascadia megaquake, an increase of 1.6 million since 1990, according to a Seattle Times analysis.

Yet Washington lags nearly all other quake-prone states in policies to reduce the risk, with, for example, no seismic-safety laws for schools, hospitals and other vulnerable buildings, according to a policy analysis this year.

Magnitude 9.0 earthquakes strike the Northwest about every five centuries. But some were only 200 years apart – and it’s been 316 years since the last one,” quoting The Seattle Times.
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