When Cascadia Shakes
Taking a look into the Pacific Northwest’s subduction zone earthquake of 1700 and how surviving the next can be made more accessible.
By KRISTIAN TREY KODMAN
March 16, 2021
Artwork by Doug Zilke @ Coghlan Art Studio and Gallery
Around one hundred years before Lewis and Clark’s explorations led them to the Pacific coast at the Columbia River’s mouth, a myth among the native people blossomed from a deadly overnight event. It was a day modern society would call January 26, 1700.
Tribes would grow to know it as the battle between the Thunderbird and Killer Whale. This event was the last great earthquake and subsequent tsunami from the Cascadia subduction zone located underwater 80 miles offshore of Vancouver Island, running down to Mendocino Bay, CA, over 600 miles in length.
Many variations of this story exist between the different tribes of the Pacific Northwest, but it goes as follows. Thunderbird, the most powerful of all creatures, takes the killer whale to devour on the mountaintops but not without a fight. Instead, the prairie near the shore is where they fight. That is why no trees can grow there anymore.
Several times the orca frees itself from the thunderbird. And yet, several prairies lose their forests forever. Finally, the whale frees itself completely and splashes back into its home, the ocean. But not without consequences, as the myth goes. Four days pass with no sun or dry land—only water taking all of the tribes and their canoes to their fates. The killer whale survived to live on another day.
This story was not connected to geologic science until recently by USGS Geologist Brian Atwater shortly after the 2004 deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean that took over 200,000 lives. It clearly describes tsunami inundations taking over freshwater marshes and inland areas with saltwater, thus killing entire forests along the Pacific Northwest coast. These sand deposits dated to the same time as a well-documented Orphan Wave in Japan to the minute that traveled the Pacific Ocean’s entire width.
Before the shaking starts
The best way to know you, your family, and your coworkers can survive a severe-magnitude earthquake is to think you can never be too ready. There are resources worldwide to research and learn from to answer your place in society when the Big One strikes. One of these well-known globally is the Great ShakeOut Drill.
In an email response from Kylee Zabel, the Secretary of State of Washington’s communication director, she said, “The Office of the Secretary of State participates in the drill each year and shares ShakeOut resources and emergency-preparedness messaging during the time of the drill. Our office divisions have locations across the state. Each division and facility has representatives who go over safety regulations and practices, including reviewing and disseminating information about earthquake safety and preparedness both in and outside of the workplace to all staff regularly. Every staff member or work area has emergency safety kits and supplies, and specific items get replenished as needed.”
Another ShakeOut coordinator, the Klamath County Public Health Department Information Officer Valeree Lane, said in a phone interview, “We had a very devastating earthquake on September 20, 1993. That night, there was so much concern about a response, someone suffered a heart attack, and we could not get to them in time.”
Lane continued, “Here in our office, we do one annual earthquake drill, and potentially more if time allows. Covid-19 now has us thinking about our partner agency relationships. Within county government, there’s public health, but there’s also emergency management. As we’ve worked through Covid, they’ve handled logistics for our PPE. If the Cascadia earthquake hit, the shoe would be on the other foot.”
“What is great in our business community is that on the day of the ShakeOut Drill, businesses make it a fun opportunity for people to come together in the office.” Lane said. "One year, an insurance business downtown tried to get everyone under the conference table, then posted the picture on Facebook to have the conversation from an insurance business standpoint of what people need to do to survive.”
From the website Ready.gov, these items are the suggested necessities per person for basic survival needs after a major earthquake disaster:
Water (one gallon per person per day for several days, drinking and sanitation)
Food (at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food)
Battery-powered or hand-crank radio and an NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert
Flashlight
First aid kit
Extra batteries
Whistle (to signal for help)
Dust mask (to help filter contaminated air)
Plastic sheeting and duct tape (to shelter in place)
Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties (for personal sanitation)
Wrench or pliers (to turn off utilities)
Manual can opener (for food)
Local maps
Cell phone with chargers and a backup battery
Masks (for everyone ages two and above), soap, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes to disinfect surfaces
Prescription medications
Non-prescription medications such as pain relievers, anti-diarrhea medication, antacids, or laxatives
Prescription eyeglasses and contact lens solution
Infant formula, bottles, diapers, wipes, and diaper rash cream
Pet food and extra water for your pet
Cash or traveler's checks
Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification, and bank account records saved electronically or in a waterproof, portable container
Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person
Complete change of clothing appropriate for your climate and sturdy shoes
Fire extinguisher
Matches in a waterproof container
Feminine supplies and personal hygiene items
Mess kits, paper cups, plates, paper towels, and plastic utensils
Paper and pencil
Books, games, puzzles, or other activities for children
Other concerns about the storage and ability to retrieve this kit are as follows:
Keep canned food in a cool, dry place.
Store boxed food in a tightly closed plastic or metal containers.
Replace expired items as needed.
Re-think your needs every year and update your kit as your family’s needs change.
Home: Keep this kit in a designated place and have it ready if you have to leave your home quickly. Make sure all family members know where the equipment gets kept.
Work: Be prepared to shelter at work for at least 24 hours. Your work kit should include food, water, and other necessities like medicines, as well as comfortable walking shoes, stored in a “grab and go” case.
Car: In case you are stranded, keep a kit of emergency supplies in your car.
OEM EmergencyKitWorksheet_6-8-2017_v2
Immediate response
“You can tell when an earthquake is about to hit as the birds will all start flying, and the dogs will start barking,” Peru resident Randol Valesquez said in an online interview. “You wake up to them so often, yet you pray for the best and see how it goes. What is more detrimental is the three volcanoes, Chachani, Misti, and Pichu Pichu, surrounding Arequipa. If a strong quake wakes one up, the ash will consume us.” Peru and Chile also have a historically active subduction zone very similar to Cascadia’s off their coasts.
Last year, the ShakeAlert messaging service rolled out for use in California. On March 11th in Oregon and this May in Washington, ShakeAlert will activate via the emergency alert system on smartphones, not unlike the Amber Alert system. There are other ways of relaying this information to the public if the time allowed is workable and there is the infrastructure in the region.
OEM EmergencyKitWorksheet_6-8-2017_v2
“I stayed on Maui’s Red Sand Beach overnight while weary of the Menehune and Nightmarchers staying ready to explain my presence,” Sunshine Gordon of Eugene, OR, said of her experience during the Kiholo Bay earthquake on October 15, 2006. “In the morning, I would swim into an area I normally went alone. But this morning, the earth started shaking, and rocks started falling from the cliff face above me. I just stood there frozen. I went into shock for the rest of the day.”
Gordon’s experience is one of many from any seismic area where the panic turns into freezing in place with no idea what to do next. At least the situation she faced of perilous danger on an ocean beach was met with no tsunami, fortunately.
Welcome to Earthquake Country!
Post-earthquake response
A phone interview with USGS Geophysicist Jana Pursley addressed the possibility of power outages affecting that agency’s ability to relay necessary information to specific regions suffering from that loss of power when and if that time comes.
Pursley said in response about residents not having internet access needing information, “you can always call the 24/7 group (at 303-273-8500 #3) to see what’s happening and what could happen. Usually, immediately after an earthquake occurs, we have within a few minutes what to expect in terms of aftershocks and damage in the area.”
The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network also has real-time earthquake information listed on its website. Here you can find all the necessary parameter information on every recent and historical regional seismic event. Also, currently being studied and documented by PNSN is ETS (episodic tremor and slip) events that scientists believe are the next step to begin predicting when the Big One may happen before it does.
Since coordination will be vital in bringing back this region after a significant earthquake strikes, local, state, and federal government agencies have planned mock drills of the 9M event starting with Cascadia Rising 2016. The planning from 2018 lead them to Cascadia Rising 2022 has already been underway. This plan encompasses every facet of communities, business, and logistical support needed when that dreadful time comes.