A look at the Northwest earthquake that shook the world

Seattle PI ^ | 1/25/17 | ZOSHA MILLMAN

[JimSEA]

Just before midnight on Jan. 27, 1700, Japan woke to a massive tsunami, a surprise since no one there felt the earthquake that would’ve caused it. Years later, scientists finally figured out why – it all started in Cascadia, exactly 317 years ago. Samurai, merchants and villagers wrote of minor flooding and damage. Confusion abounded. After all, there had been no tremor in Japan that would’ve given locals warning of a rogue wave.The “orphan tsunami” wouldn’t be linked to the parent earthquake, which originated in the geologically active Pacific Northwest’s Cascadia subduction zone, until the 1990s. The zone hosts a range of erupting volcanoes, as well as the capability to produce massive earthquakes. It’s the more than 600-mile-long fault that scientists worry will bring the next really big one. Researchers had long known that many trees in the Pacific Northwest died sometime in the winter of 1699-1700, thanks to a comparison of dead-tree rings with the rings of those still alive. Those rings suggested that the coasts of northern California, Oregon and Washington suddenly dropped 36 feet and flooded the trees with sea water, killing them.

[JimSEA]

It is really worth a read. Most people won't but they would be better off giving their comments some context.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The 1556 Shaanxi Earthquake in China was the largest and most deadliest earthquake ever recorded in human history.

[Gay State Conservative]

Interesting

[Mears]

“largest and most deadliest earthquake”

—

I see how you got your username.:-)

.

[DuncanWaring]

Another story on the 1700 earthquake:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one

[Proyecto Anonimo]

I was on the GW in the Tokyo Bay for the 9.0. Shook us up and down for a minute (Friday at 3pm during quarters).

Our kids were walking home from Japanese School out in town. Shook them one meter back and forth for a minute. Beat ‘em up pretty good. Slight oval, mostly straight line shake.

[Mariner]

I was about 10 miles from the epicenter of this one and noticed it. I was in the restroom taking care of business at the time.

My cousin burst in with her toddler screaming for me to do something. I replied that I was doing all that I could do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Nisqually_earthquake

[21twelve]

I wonder why they keep writing articles about this like it was new news?? Although I guess that it is good to keep that information out there for the newcomers and ill-informed.

It really is a very cool “detective” story, with different researchers seeing different pieces of the puzzle, sharing them, and then “Oh!”

And one day it WILL happen again. (Some data shows that the cycle is past due for another “Big One”). Preparing for 3 weeks with your family hunkered down in your shambles of a home MIGHT buy enough time before help can arrive. 3 months of preps would be better.

[Mariner]

If SeaTac and McChord are unusable, help is about a month away by sea and much depends on a usable port.

Trucks could get there sooner but most of the lead trucks would have to carry heavy equipment to clear the roads. And would take at least 1 if not two weeks.

[BoomerBill]

That was an excellent article. Read every word of it. Thank you for the link.

[43north]

I practice medicine in north Idaho. This past summer my facility participated in the “Cascadia Rising” exercise. This simulated a 9.something quake and tsunami and was a really big deal in the Pacific NW. The storyline on most of the “victims” that were sent to us was that they “drove” from Seattle. Not bloody likely!

[43north]

Thanks for posting. I didn’t know about that one and I just looked it up. Wow! Estimated death toll 830,000 with a magnitude of 7.9-8.0. Obviously a heavily populated area.

[AZLiberty]

Those rings suggested that the coasts of northern California, Oregon and Washington suddenly dropped 36 feet and flooded the trees with sea water, killing them.

Now THAT'S sea level change.

[21twelve]

“If SeaTac and McChord are unusable”

I would imagine that they will be. Along with Boeing Field, Everett, etc.

Before they knew about the magnitude of this quake the emergency response was coordinated between Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. If one city got hit, the others would help.

But now that they now about this one the aid will come from east of the Cascade mountains. BUT - the various bridges west of the mountains will be blocked, so they will have to chopper stuff in. For Seattle the plan is to use the large runways at Moses Lake (3 hour drive from Seattle) to land stuff.

Then it was, IIRC, truck things the two hours west to the east side of Snoqualmie Pass to a staging area, then chopper things from there into Seattle. As you said, I'm sure they will have over-water routes set up - but from where? Probably California.

Seattle itself will be very difficult to get any vehicles in at first as it is pretty much going over large bodies of water and the bridges will be knocked out. Although they did just complete the new 520 floating bridge - I'll have to look if they designed it for Cascadia Fault - I'm guessing that they would have. Of course that bridge goes across Lake Washington, and the Seattle fault could setup a large tsunamis in the lake (20 to 30 feet iirc?), which I'm guessing would take out the bridge. I think the Seattle Fault, because it is shallower and near the city would take out more bridges than the Cascadia one would.

Anyway - it will be a huge catastrophe. And it WILL take time for logistics to get things (and medical help) to people. What we need is another one like the Nisqually E.Q. to wake everybody up again and get folks prepared. (But not do too much damage. Me to to a certain degree as well, I know I'm not as well-stocked as I used to be after the last one.

[nicepaco]

Great link. Thank you.

[21twelve]

Thank you for mentioning that link. Very well written, combining great writing (almost poetry in places) with facts,

e.g.:

“Wineglasses, antique vases, Humpty Dumpty, hip bones, hearts: what breaks quickly [wow - what imagery!] generally mends slowly, if at all. OSSPAC estimates that in the I-5 corridor it will take between one and three months after the earthquake to restore electricity, a month to a year to restore drinking water and sewer service, six months to a year to restore major highways, and eighteen months to restore health-care facilities.”