Everybody needs to read this scenario too—it’s probably more possible than a “big one”.
http://raptureready.com/soap2/snyder11.html
Maybe the “big one” would trigger an eruption of Mount Rainier.
Mount Rainier is near the top of the lists for major disasters waiting to happen. It would be small compared to the “big one” in the PNW. As another poster mentioned, the New Madrid fault would be way worse than Cascadia. Back in the 1800’s the New Mardrid eq rang church bells in Boston! And lots of pipelines that run from Texas and feed the NE run through the area.
I’m in the PNW and it WILL be a huge disaster. The local state seismic guy and some other bureaucrat were down-playing the article, but I am guessing that Seattle, which can only be accessed by bridges, will be an island unto itself for quite awhile with probably all of the bridges destroyed if it is a 9.0.
There is a fault scarp visible at a golf course west of Seattle from the last big one (1700). It is 20’ tall. That is a lot of movement to happen all at once!