On Shaky Ground: Waiting For "The Big One" In The Pacific Northwest
Several times this century, in 1949, 1965, and again in 2001, Western Washington was hit by strong shaking from earthquakes. The quakes caused significant economic damage, and some loss of life. But the shaking was not as intense as it could have been. The quakes all originated from faults deep underground, so much of their seismic energy dissipated by the time it reached the surface. For decades, scientists thought these deep earthquakes were the only seismic threat facing Western Washington. But over the past 25 years, they've discovered the region is subject to a much wider variety of seismic hazards, ranging from crustal earthquakes directly under the region's cities to megathrust earthquakes off the coast. In this four–part series, "On Shaky Ground," KUOW's Deborah Wang explores the newly discovered hazards, and what they mean for our buildings, our schools, and ourselves.
"On Shaky Ground: Waiting For "The Big One" In The Pacific Northwest" was reported and produced by Deborah Wang and edited by Jim Gates.
On Shaky Ground: Unearthing The Faults
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Back in the 1980s, many scientists believed the massive fault off our coast wasn't capable of producing great earthquakes. But a decade later, they were proven wrong.
On Shaky Ground: Built to Last?
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile touched off a debate in the Northwest about how well our buildings would do in a big earthquake. The jury is still out.
On Shaky Ground: How Safe Are The Schools?
Thursday, June 10, 2010
If a big earthquake hits, you hope that your kids will be safe in their schools. But Washington lags behind every other state on the west coast in ensuring the state's school buildings are seismically safe.
On Shaky Ground: Time to Get Ready!
Friday, June 11, 2010
If you believe that police or firefighters will come to your rescue if a big earthquake hits, think again. Emergency officials say in the case of "the big one," you will very likely be on your own. So you'd better get ready.
