Cascadian Earthquake: A Matter of When, Not If

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#1

I am very sad to report that land I feel closest too is very real and grave danger. Seismologists are saying Cascadia (“everything west of I-5”) is in for serious trouble due to Earthquakes and Tsunamis. When considering rewilding, or just living, in these areas think again. I can’t even really accept this is real as almost all of my friends and family live in Cascadia. If you live there, please consider moving.

I had been looking at Alaska’s Inside Passage to move to, and now I need to figure out how dangerous this may be due to potential Tsunamis (even diminished ones).

Wikipedia article on Cascadian Subduction Zone.

#2

Come to AZ and help me get something going down here! The White Mountains area has clean air, clean water, low population density, beautiful weather, and the land is just waiting for people to steward the regrowth of forests on it. I can cover a land payment, or maybe even the whole cost but can’t participate in the legal aspect and can’t do the “nodesteading” thing alone until I finish a couple of diy green tech projects that will make off grid nomadic life accessible to a busted up fool like me.

As far as gigantic natural disasters go, I think that there are much greater and more imminent concerns to consider. I’d much rather be taken out in an earthquake, volcano, or tsunami than by a pack or armed thugs with badges, or starving city folk that can’t apply their cubicle skills to finding food when the teetering economic system finally collapses.

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#3

I’m glad I didn’t know about this when my Seattle apartment started shaking in the 2002(?) quake. I’d still be running.

Scary stuff. My sister just moved back there.

I was surprised the death toll estimates are so low. Sounds off by an order of magnitude.

#4

It was February 2001. I was on Whidbey Island at my Mom’s cedar house for that 6.4 quake. The house sounded like a twig being twisted apart. It was a long one too!

I e-mailed my Mom something like this: “Hey Mom! Remember when I told you to pull your money of your retirement funds and buy gold before the 2007-8 financial crisis? You said I was being a Debbie Downer. Remember? And then you lost over 1/3 of your net worth! Well here’s another bold prediction: there’s going to be a huge earthquake and resulting tsunami that will crush Whidbey Island and everything west of I-5. Please consider moving!!!”

She just e-mailed: “I know about the earthquake and I’m not moving.” My other friends are saying similar stuff. They are nuts. I feel I’ve entered this Cassandra role in a lot of my life and I can’t shake it.

#5

To deal with my Cassandra condition, which, BTW, I just heard about for the first time yesterday, on a completely unrelated forum, which is strange, I’ve had to adapt a more “eastern” view of death, which is basically what we’re talking about for those that won’t listen to the people that love them and have some idea what’s going on. I respect those that say, “When it’s time to go, it’s time to go.” If I tell someone I love, “Hey, doing that will kill you.”, and they ignore me, I start detaching and as quickly as possible. I still interact with them and am as nice as can be but I just can’t be interested in their survival if they’re not. If people want to try to save people, great for them, go for it, but I’ve sacrificed too many years of my life trying that and have to do something different now, which is create the best reality I can with every decision and effort. Cassandras problem/punishment wasn’t that no would listen to her. Her problem was that she was overly attached altering other people’s fates.

#6

Doesn’t Rewilding in fact provide a superior ability to rapidly adapt to changing conditions, partly through greater mobility and minimal property? With this in mind, I think that disaster ‘potential’ (the ‘when’ in geological time frame has a great uncertainty factor) could be mitigated with proper preparedness…

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#7

Sev, Yes I think so.

Ironically, I now live in Oregon close to the Pacific Ocean and major volcanoes. I missed this landscape too much.

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#8

Previous tsunamis from the subduction zone reached about 300ft above sea level. So probably don’t build below that, if it worries you. It causes enough concern for me that I wouldn’t build below 400 ft. elevation.