Devastating Anniversary



Maybe you saw the “hoax” article on Facebook about a pending earthquake and tsunami in the Pacific Northwest. A quick response from the National Weather Service said there was nothing to worry about. 

But for record, the last time the Juan De Fuca tectonic plate and the North American tectonic plate had a super destructive meeting was January 26, 1700. 










And also for the record, these super-destructive earthquakes happen with eerie 243-year regularity. So if there is some concern about a pending quake, the ominous anniversary reminds us that we’re overdue a “big one”.








These mega-earthquakes have been traced all the way back to AD 599.  But now this amazingly beautiful real estate is home to millions—in cities like Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Portland, and Salem with hundreds of towns in between.

Volumes of credible research and the best seismic equipment isn’t enough to give those of us living in the Pacific Northwest much warning for the anticipated 9.2 earthquake. 

Experts say that it will be the worst natural disaster in American history. If you live anywhere other than the Pacific Northwest you can take a deep, thankful breath and skip to the final paragraph.




For friends who share this shaky piece of real estate, let’s talk. 



From kirotv.com












What are the warning signs of the big one? First thing is a compression wave radiating outward from the Juan de Fuca plate. 

This is a rapid, high-frequency wave—audible to dogs. We will feel a sudden jolt. This is your 30-90 second warning. Japan has an advanced warning system that would pick up this wave frequency, immediately shutting down power plants and railways. 

Americans are not as fortunate. But we have our dogs. When you feel the jolt accompanied by a chorus of barking dogs, you’ll know that within a minute the surface waves will begin—the ground moving both up and down and side to side.



Anything unsecured will come crashing down. Think Hollywood catastrophic movie, only now it’s real. FEMA experts say a 9.2 quake could take down a million buildings (including 3000 schools), half of the bridges, railroads, police stations, and hospitals. 

The subsequent landslides and liquefaction (when solid ground becomes liquid-like) would create more havoc. Tsunamis will follow and for those in its wake, it will most likely be unsurvivable.





In a region bursting with productivity from Microsoft and Boeing to the regional shipping terminal for millions of dollars in agricultural products, we’d be economically devastated. 

Anticipated deaths would be above 13 thousand. A million people will be displaced and there’d be immediate needs of food and water for another 2.5 million people. 





The odds are 1 in 3 that the region will have a significant quake in the next fifty years and 1 in 10 for our worst nightmare earthquake. 

If nothing else, it would be great if all of this media attention could facilitate the procurement of an early warning system like Japan’s so we wouldn’t be relying on the warning chorus of barking dogs.


Popular posts from this blog

Dreaming the Dream

Image
Dreaming big dreams about the future is easy for kids. The only thing standing in the way is time.  Kid’s dreams are not about skills, or opportunities, or even practicality. Those things come much later.  My grandson hopes to be professional soccer player when he grows up. This week, a small piece of his dream came true when his Boys and Girls Club was invited to participate in pre-game activities with the Seattle Sounders Football Club.  He got to suit up in a real jersey and walk on the field with a real pro player. Imagine a young soccer player looking up to who he hopes to be one day. If you haven’t taken the time to talk to a child about their future dreams—you should.  They believe. As we get older we sometimes forget that dreams fuel our hopes—and that's something we all need. So, do you still dream? Or have you left those childhood thoughts behind?  S pending time with children will  inspire you to believe agai
Read more

Sexy Selfies: Posting for attention

Image
We’ve all seen the “selfie” pix on Facebook—those self-taken images in varying forms of dress (or undress). Usually they’re female poses taken in public restrooms, dressing rooms, bedrooms, and lots of what used to be private space. Thanks to selfies and social media, it’s open season on privacy—and modesty. Do you have a social media “friend” who has become a serial selfie? Most often selfies are young girls sharing their sexiness with the world. Serial selfies post hundreds of pictures, so it’s hard to ignore the display. The question is why do they do it. While I don’t approve of the sexy display of serial selfies, insecurity is at the root. Selfies collect “likes” to boost morale. The attention received is like a balm to their broken spirits. But the dark side of exhibitionism is feeling used—not unlike the girl searching for love and giving away her body in hopes of finding love. Selfies seek approval. They're locked in a perpetual cycle of posting pi
Read more

Wild or Tame? Which One Are You?

Image
Finally! Research that explains why I act the way I do. Columbia University’s Motivational Science Center studied people’s activities and what brought them the most happiness. Even more telling were how those activities changed as they aged. Twenty-somethings tend to equate happiness with high-energy activities. Words like excited and ecstatic are usually attached to spontaneous things—even risky things—and living life full throttle.  Researchers labeled this Promotion Motivation —the urge to take chances, including career moves that may not work out. Happiness comes from happenings—the more happenings, the more happiness. By age forty, adults associate happiness with things running smoothly at work and home. It’s also about feeling secure in relationships. Keeping healthy matters more too. This behavior is called Prevention Motivation —and people are more concerned with preserving and maintaining the things they value. It appears that time ofte
Read more