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Monday, March 14, 2011

News Oregon: We're Due for "The Big One."

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 4:43 PM

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  • Eatcho
Not to get all hysterical or anything, but all those terrible pictures from Japan? Yeah, that could be us next. Oregon is one of the states most vulnerable to earthquakes. And we're likely to get a big one soon. Look what the New York Times had to say about us in its Sunday edition:
Nearly a thousand Oregon schools built in the last century have poor earthquake resilience, and many vulnerable dams protect urban areas in the region. Oregon is moving to shore up its schools, but the program is not slated for completion until 2032. The federal government is working to address dam issues, but the pace is deliberate, he said.
Freelancer Bill Lascher reported on what could happen to Portland during a major earthquake last month.

Children will die in the rubble of devastated public schools. Workers will die in offices built inside un-reinforced brick buildings. Should we survive, we might find ourselves stranded, perhaps without enough fuel or food. Even our beloved green spaces would be doomed. Picture Forest Park ablaze, with the flames racing from near the foot of a collapsed St. Johns Bridge, and the air and water filling with oil and toxic chemicals that have erupted from destroyed tank farms along the Willamette River.
Read here about the politics and budget problems that may lead to our doom.

In the meantime, did anyone else pack an annual earthquake kit for school when they were growing up? The best day of every year in elementary school was that last week in June when I got to open that Ziploc bag of stale granola bars wrapped with an upbeat note from my mom.

 

Comments (10) RSS

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1
Don't forget the tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste which is still stored at the "decommissioned" Trojan nuclear power plant, a mere 45 miles north of Portland!
Posted by husqvarna on March 14, 2011 at 5:14 PM · Report
2
North Bend didn't do the annual earthquake kit thing as far as I remember but I guess I'm as prepared for the "big one" as I am for our total annihilation by gigantic meteors/Yellowstone erupting/solar flares/zombie apocalypse/et cetera, which is to say: not very much. It's disheartening but not surprising that the usual political stagnation has ensured that our government won't be any better prepared. Go us!
Posted by tk. on March 14, 2011 at 5:26 PM · Report
3
Not to get all reasonable or anything, but the quake just moved the Pacific Ocean 13 feet further to the West underneath Japan. We are on the opposite side of the Pacific plate. So it means there is 13 feet less of the Pacific plate trying to push its way underneath Oregon. The chances of a major quake happening on our side of the ocean have just massively (if temporarily) decreased.

Yes, we will get a big one one day. And I don't want to be around all those brick buildings in Old Town when it happens. But if you weren't panicking about it before, there's even less reason to panic about it now.
Posted by Stu on March 14, 2011 at 5:30 PM · Report
4
We`re all doomed. I live near a cemetery (a pet one, none the less a cemetery), and those Apocalyptic Zombie movies have been scaring the shit outta me. If I see "little pawns" coming after me I`ll burn the moderfucker down.
Posted by Leaky on March 14, 2011 at 5:41 PM · Report
5
This must be a nightmare. The NYT has something BAD to say about Oregon?! Get me out of this Twilight Zone!
Posted by ($8239f8h248cerfehjf23@&*@ebdjhb23f237OCDBO#BD*(# on March 14, 2011 at 7:48 PM · Report
6
Buy a small generator, Leaky, so that after the quake you can stay up late watching DVDs ("Pet Sematary" perhaps?)...
Posted by Todd Mecklem on March 14, 2011 at 8:00 PM · Report
7
husqvarna, if you're worried about nuclear material Hanford is a much bigger dispersal threat even though it is farther away.
Posted by wouterra on March 14, 2011 at 8:05 PM · Report
8
Your mom's due for the big one.





Sorry, I'm allowed one every year.
Posted by Commenty Colin on March 14, 2011 at 9:04 PM · Report
9
@CC: One mom? Can't wait for Mother's Day?
Posted by Todd Mecklem on March 14, 2011 at 10:59 PM · Report
10
I thought of buying a zapper (which generates electricity), a stunt pistol, lets call it that, so if a monkey from the dead comes after me I can defend well. (And I´ll get the solar panel DVD too, to educate myself so to know which moves to apply when defending myself against different types of menaces).

I just hope the home appliances don`t come to life, cuz then I`ll be fucked. I`ll need a good exorcist for that.
Posted by Leaky on March 15, 2011 at 6:08 AM · Report

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