The Really Big One

[MoneyGuy]

Fascinating article. I find this stuff very interesting. The big one could hit in 50-100 years, or tomorrow. When it does, it will be horrible. I hope I'm not around to see it but my kids may be.

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Montana Moe

I happily exchanged being 90 minutes from the Yellowstone Caldera for being 90 minutes from the Oregon Coast. One is survivable, one is certain death.

Live your life, but be prepared.

The timelines are big differences too. The earthquake scenerio seems to be a Quarter Millennium phenomenon while the Super-volcano is a hundreds of millions of years type of thing.

[sharkov]

I wonder how well prepared are Tsunami evacuation procedures in the West Coast are.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by sharkov

I wonder how well prepared are Tsunami evacuation procedures in the West Coast are.

Well, they put up a lot of signs...

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by sharkov

I wonder how well prepared are Tsunami evacuation procedures in the West Coast are.

We are very well prepared here on Van island. There has always been talks of "The big one" for the last 50+ years. We have special routes marked, safety zones marked out special reponse units ready to go at a moments notice, clean water units, continuous construction year round to bring old building up to code for earth quakes, military is ready to go etc... No one here is to worried at the moment tho . They monitier sesmic activity pretty closely here.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I would think most of the BC coast would survive in terms of tidal wave... that thing ain't getting past Vancouver Island. Granted the quake would probably result in a bunch of the lower mainland just sinking into the sea.

I don't think you realize the subduction zone is between the Island and the mainland. If we go down we are taking Vancouver with us.

[Ozy_Flame]

Even if no tidal wave hits Vancouver, the ground would become so unstable, I see no other options for the city other than to either get devastated in pushed-up subterranean rock or just sink into the sea.

Another reason not to move to Vancouver.

[Pipty]

Now just imagine all the nuclear power plants situated around those areas

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Pipty

Now just imagine all the nuclear power plants situated around those areas

I don't fully understand what your getting at here? B.c and Oregon dont have any Nuclear power stations . Washington State has one in Benton County outside of Richland which is pretty far away from the coast. The only one that could lead to a major problem is the one in Diablo Canyon in California.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

We are very well prepared here on Van island. There has always been talks of "The big one" for the last 50+ years. We have special routes marked, safety zones marked out special reponse units ready to go at a moments notice, clean water units, continuous construction year round to bring old building up to code for earth quakes, military is ready to go etc... No one here is to worried at the moment tho . They monitier sesmic activity pretty closely here.

Monitoring isn't going to provide any warning....

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

I don't think you realize the subduction zone is between the Island and the mainland. If we go down we are taking Vancouver with us.

This is patently wrong. It should be obvious that this isn't the case just by looking at a topographical map, but here are some accurate maps that show where the plates are and where the subduction zone is.

P.S. - your image above shows Vancouver, WASHINGTON, not Vancouver, B.C.








Basically every model has larger waves hitting the West coast of the Island, whereas Victoria will get some swells, and that's about it. Feel free to read that Reddit AMA for further detail wherein the PNW seismologists and geologists clarify yet again that the major issue for the lower mainland is the quake (and accompanying ground liquefaction) and not any tidal issue, which will be borne by the island.

[Vulcan]

Here's another view of the earthquake danger on the BC mainland.

The threat of the “Big One” looms large for residents up and down the Pacific coast. These quakes happen below the ocean floor off the west coast of Vancouver Island where the Juan de Fuca plate is slowly being forced beneath the North American plate.

However, Dr. Steve Earle, chair of the earth science department at Vancouver Island University, said it isn’t these expected earthquakes that we should worry about the most. Rather, it is the more unexpected ones, like the 1946 earthquake located somewhere on the Forbidden Plateau on Vancouver Island, that are cause for thought. It holds the distinction of being Canada’s largest recorded on-shore earthquake. At a magnitude of 7.3 it rocked Powell River and was felt as far north as Prince Rupert and as far south as Portland, Oregon.

“I think there’s reason to be more worried about an earthquake like the 1946 one than big subduction zone earthquakes for a couple of reasons,” said Earle. “It’s more likely to happen sooner, although we don’t know what kind of interval there is between those kinds of earthquakes. It’s likely that it’s shorter than the interval for the big earthquakes.

“The other reason is that it would be a lot closer in distance across land, and also it would be a shallower earthquake,” he said. “It’s likely to have more of an impact on Vancouver Island, Powell River and even the Lower Mainland than a really big earthquake.”

http://www.prpeak.com/articles/2012/...2389642481.txt

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Of course, there's also the potential for the "big one" to trigger those shallow quakes, so you could get a two for one (or five for one).

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

The only one that could lead to a major problem is the one in Diablo Canyon in California.

Oh, Diablo Canyon 2, why can't you be more like Diablo Canyon 1?

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Dr. Steve Earle

Anyone else have a certain song about moonshine running through their head?

[Inferno]

Of course the potential for "The Big One" is alarming but I'm not going to get paranoid to the point of thinking about leaving. It could happen tomorrow or it could happen long after I'm gone. I have been meaning to put together an emergency kit just to be safe though.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

I don't think you realize the subduction zone is between the Island and the mainland. If we go down we are taking Vancouver with us.

So you're saying Vancouver would take a dive?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Inferno

Of course the potential for "The Big One" is alarming but I'm not going to get paranoid to the point of thinking about leaving. It could happen tomorrow or it could happen long after I'm gone. I have been meaning to put together an emergency kit just to be safe though.

Check out emergency kits on Costco.ca. I bought one after the Calgary floods. It's a good start for prepping and you can do it right now. The one I bought has MREs, water pouches, stove, flashlight, radio, candles, matches, and a ton of other stuff.