Know Your Faults: Massive Earthquake May Be Coming to Oregon

There are many fault lines that run through Oregon, but what ones should Oregonians be worried about? There have been new studies of an earthquake that could hit about 600 miles along the coastline of Oregon, North California, Washington, and Southern British Columbia. The name of this earthquake is the Cascadia Subduction Zone [CSZ], and has the potential for a magnitude of 9 or higher, creating a substantial threat to these states. Along with this earthquake, a seismic wave or tsunami may be result, and could cause considerable damage.
“An earthquake as large as a magnitude 9 Cascadia Subduction Zone quake will produce a shaking that will likely last three to five minutes. It will be much longer than any earthquake we’ve experienced historically in Washington and Oregon,” Evelyn Roeloffs, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey office in Vancouver, Washington said in a Statesman Journal article. “We have lots of buildings and structures constructed before we were aware of the potential of CSZ quakes, and even though these might have survived smaller earthquakes, the longer the shaking, the more likely it will damage these older structures.”
In light of the potential earthquake, emergency response officials have been working hard to plan and organize state, country, and local responses to prepare for the earthquake if it does hit. Statesman Journal has also been combining ideas with other schools in the Salem-Keizer District, and spreading the “Be prepared, not scared,” quote by Andrew Phelps, the director of Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management with the department of the military, to inform the people of the CSZ earthquake, and to prepare so they will remain as safe as possible.
A promotional poster for the movie San Andreas, starring Dawyne “The Rock” Johnson, an exaggerated disaster-action film centered around the earthquake, Cascadia Subduction Zone.