State Official says WA Not Ready for Huge Offshore Earthquake

A state official has raised eyebrows recently by saying a major quake offshore in the Pacific Ocean could make virtually everything West of I-5 'toast.'

Peter Antolin, Deputy Director of Washington state's Emergency Management Division, has backed off that statement a bit, but still says a major quake in the newly active Cascadia offshore fault would send Western Washington's transportation system "back to the 1800's."

Antolin told the Washington State Transportation Commission meeting Tuesday in Seattle the state still needs to address a number of areas, and bolster it's preparedness for a what a major quake could do.

The Cascadia fault is lies anywhere from 50 to 80 miles off the Pacific Coast of CA, OR, and Washington, and meanders about 600 miles.  It's has shown some recent activity, and scientists are watching it carefully.

Antolin says the last major quake in the fault was in 1700, and it's shown it usually moves significantly every 2-300 years.  He says that doesn't mean it's likely to do anything, but the state needs to be prepared.

He told the commission a 9.0 earthquake that lasts 3-6 minutes (the average for that fault based upon it's history) would create a tsunami that would flood numerous coastal communities but not likely Puget Sound. But he did say a quake that size would send the West side transportation system "into the 1800's" with the amount of damage it would cause.

The state plans a real-time Cascadia Disaster exercise over a four-day period next  June 7-10.