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Could a tsunami backflow up the Columbia up to Portland? EDIT: Looks like the answer is no, it couldn't: "Any water level increases caused by a tsunami would be so slight as to be almost immeasurable around the Portland metropolitan area or Bonneville Dam, the study showed. But water could rise as much as 13 feet just inside the mouth of the Columbia River, and almost 7 feet within a few miles of Astoria." Magres posted:How screwed/safe is Corvallis (where Oregon State University is)? I've only been out here a few years and my knowledge of geography out here is awful No tsunami danger, but you're going to get shaken just as much as the rest of us, and you''ll probably lose power for extended periods of time along with everyone else, and that's going to suck.
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Jul 14, 2015 21:38
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Kaal posted:Fortunately the woman who wrote the New Yorker article also has an incomplete understanding of geography. Her dire allusions that everything west of I-5 (or even the Cascade Mountain Range) would be inundated was completely absurd to anyone that had looked at a map before. The Oregon Coastal Range protects pretty much all the heavily populated areas from a tsunami - the planet would rip itself apart before generating 1,500 foot waves. Washington is similarly protected by the Olympic Mountains - though it would have severe flooding throughout the Puget Sound area. This isn't to diminish the earthquake concerns, which are very real and would be devastating, but the tsunami issues are pretty much limited to the immediate coastal areas. I'd honestly be more worried about Hawaii than Oregon or Washington in terms of tsunami concerns, since there's far more people living in tsunami areas there. This is absolutely correct. If you want to get a better idea of how bad it would be go read the Oregon Resilience Plan, specifically Chapter 1. The coasts are hosed and the whole thing would be a humanitarian disaster, but the major populated areas aren't going to instantly collapse into rubble and then be swept aside by a biblical flood. There wouldn't even be any appreciable land subsidence in the Portland area. 
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Jul 14, 2015 21:50
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Kaal posted:though it would have severe flooding throughout the Puget Sound area. Which is great as I'm in the nice flat area of the Skagit Valley. Plus a quake and shift of that magnitude would likely crack the Baker Dam, which would severely mess up some of the immediate areas just below (Concrete, etc). I have no idea why people get so worked up about this. I've got a friend that's paranoid as hell about the Yellowstone Supervolcano as well. It's just not worth worrying about global timelines for things like this. I'm not averse moving up a hill and watching the Valley flood, though. I'm okay with that.
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Jul 14, 2015 21:53
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Yeah I'd be more worried a major quake wakes up one of the local volcanoes instead of a giant tsunami ravaging the city. We're all screwed once Mt. Rainier goes.
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Jul 14, 2015 21:54
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LGD posted:This is absolutely correct. If you want to get a better idea of how bad it would be go read the Oregon Resilience Plan, specifically Chapter 1. The coasts are hosed and the whole thing would be a humanitarian disaster, but the major populated areas aren't going to instantly collapse into rubble and then be swept aside by a biblical flood. There wouldn't even be any appreciable land subsidence in the Portland area. 
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Jul 14, 2015 21:57
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LGD posted:This is absolutely correct. If you want to get a better idea of how bad it would be go read the Oregon Resilience Plan, specifically Chapter 1. The coasts are hosed and the whole thing would be a humanitarian disaster, but the major populated areas aren't going to instantly collapse into rubble and then be swept aside by a biblical flood. There wouldn't even be any appreciable land subsidence in the Portland area. Yeah, that was the map I was thinking of when I mentioned that Eugene is an island of tectonic stability for whatever reason.
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Jul 14, 2015 23:00
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https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3da1mh/we_are_earthquake_experts_ask_us_anything_about/ This is a good read for anyone worried about this I guess. quote:NorthwestBigQuake[S] 63 points 6 hours ago So the Puget Sound/South Sound region is probably not really at risk of tsunami like the article implies. There's a bunch of other really great tidbits in there to calm our quavering hearts. I think the main things to worry about at least in Seattle would be the landslides because someone decided the best place to build a big city would be on hills and fill.
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Jul 15, 2015 01:58
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im more worried about being on one of our shittier bridges if it happens while im still alive than anything else
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Jul 15, 2015 02:09
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I actively avoid being on the viaduct and 520 as much as humanly possible. Given that a strong wind breaks bolts on 520 and 99 has pieces cracking off regularly and both are rated a 9/100 on safety I just... don't go on them. I had to drive over 520 before they shut it down on the last big wind storm and I had serious white knuckles happening.
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Jul 15, 2015 02:12
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I think in general many people on the East Coast might have a hazy idea of West Coast geography, and not know that Portland is more than 50 miles from the coast, and that there is a mountain range between them. The thing about this is that while the risks are real, the gigantic risk posed by a subduction quake is less than the "minor" risk posed by "normal" natural disasters. Statistically speaking, hurricanes and tornadoes are much more deadly than earthquakes. In fact, by one map of natural disasters, Corvallis is the safest place in the US: http://theamericangenius.com/housing-news/natural-disaster-risk-assessment-reveals-most-and-least-dangerous-cities/
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Jul 15, 2015 02:17
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Big earth quakes are also significantly rarer than horrific tornadoes. I spent alot of time in TN huddled in hallways and basements. In 18 years I probably had 3 very serious scares. In 10 years of living in Seattle there hasn't even been a blip.
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Jul 15, 2015 02:22
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I thought the main danger was due to our lovely unreinforced masonry and the fact that we (unlike California) haven't bothered to retrofit a lot of bridges, apartments, schools, office buildings, that sort of thing. Throw in the fact that our largest hospital is a supervillain's lair atop a mountain, with only a few twisty roads and a sky-bus to provide access, and we're looking at a lot of casualties just due to poo poo falling down. Only the poor bastards on the coast are worried about a tsunami.
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Jul 15, 2015 03:27
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sullat posted:I thought the main danger was due to our lovely unreinforced masonry and the fact that we (unlike California) haven't bothered to retrofit a lot of bridges, apartments, schools, office buildings, that sort of thing. Throw in the fact that our largest hospital is a supervillain's lair atop a mountain, with only a few twisty roads and a sky-bus to provide access, and we're looking at a lot of casualties just due to poo poo falling down. Only the poor bastards on the coast are worried about a tsunami. What Do tell
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Jul 15, 2015 03:39
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Magres posted:What OHSU
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Jul 15, 2015 03:53
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SyHopeful posted:OHSU  I wasn't expecting the trams. Wow.
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Jul 15, 2015 04:01
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Magres posted:What Ok, I exaggerate for dramatic effect. The monkey labs are actully in Beaverton, away from the normals. And I don't think they're creating genetic abominations in the tunnels beneath the hill. Anymore. But it's a pain to get there in the best of times, I reckon a major earthquake would make it really difficult for them to render any aid or take in any patients. More so than the other major hospitals in town.
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Jul 15, 2015 04:15
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morcant posted:
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Jul 15, 2015 04:17
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FRINGE posted:Rich doctors demanded magical access to work. Voila. Democracy! Tbf vehicle access is really lovely.
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Jul 15, 2015 04:43
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Tigntink posted:I actively avoid being on the viaduct and 520 as much as humanly possible. Given that a strong wind breaks bolts on 520 and 99 has pieces cracking off regularly and both are rated a 9/100 on safety I just... don't go on them. I had to drive over 520 before they shut it down on the last big wind storm and I had serious white knuckles happening. Yeah I always clench my butthole just a lil bit whenever I have to drive on the viaduct. Good thing we're getting a replaceme... oh In happier news the First Hill streetcar is finally here and doing test runs. 
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Jul 15, 2015 04:54
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morcant posted:
for a second i thought that was like some artist's concept sketch of what bellevue could look like with a private cable car across the lake for tech workers
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Jul 15, 2015 05:36
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Tigntink posted:I actively avoid being on the viaduct and 520 as much as humanly possible. Given that a strong wind breaks bolts on 520 and 99 has pieces cracking off regularly and both are rated a 9/100 on safety I just... don't go on them. I had to drive over 520 before they shut it down on the last big wind storm and I had serious white knuckles happening. I work in West Seattle and have to cross over the Viaduct to go into downtown more frequently than anyone ought to. Fingers crossed I'll be dead already or out in the worst parts of Auburn where the only thing I have to worry about are falling power lines and meth lab explosions.
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Jul 15, 2015 05:46
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The second biggest reason that the coast would be totally hosed by the big one is that every road and power transmission line going across the coast range will almost certainly be thoroughly destroyed. They're not going to have anything that isn't brought in by the navy (odds on how many aircraft carriers wind up getting parked off the coast?) until well after the inland areas get at least partly unfucked.
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Jul 15, 2015 05:49
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morcant posted:
the trams are super fun on windy days
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Jul 15, 2015 05:55
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Some mayor in the town of Airway Heights (a few miles west of Spokane) posted some ring wing meme that compared Barack and Michelle to monkeys. He's being asked to resign by his city council, he won't. Here's his reasoning:quote:“I made a mistake. I owned up to my mistake,” Rushing said. “If I do resign that’s admitting I’m a racist and I’m not.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/jul/14/airway-heights-mayor-asked-resign/ I'M NOT RACIST THAT'S WHAT'S SO INSANE ABOUT THIS!
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Jul 15, 2015 20:02
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SyHopeful posted:Tbf vehicle access is really lovely. Seriously - the only bus that runs up there is the 8 and the waiting list for employee parking is years long.
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Jul 15, 2015 20:08
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Abner Cadaver II posted:Seriously - the only bus that runs up there is the 8 and the waiting list for employee parking is years long.
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Jul 15, 2015 20:27
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glowing-fish posted:I think in general many people on the East Coast might have a hazy idea of West Coast geography, and not know that Portland is more than 50 miles from the coast, and that there is a mountain range between them. Yeah Corvallis with be fine with regards to any tsunami. It's almost 100 miles south of Portland and the lower parts are good 200 ft higher than the low lying parts of Portland. If you're that worried just live on Witham Hill.
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Jul 15, 2015 21:16
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I'm very scared of earthquakes and don't want to think/talk about them. Unfortunately this seems to be government's policy on the matter too.
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Jul 15, 2015 21:21
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Glad, I live further inland and don't need to worry overtly much about earthquakes. Of course, I guess it's a tradeoff to worrying about wildfires.
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Jul 15, 2015 21:28
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Wasn't the big risk to Seattle liquefaction and landslides (as mentioned)? The number stated in the New Yorker article is 15% of Seattle is on fill, which is prime for liquefaction. What part(s) of Seattle is that? I'd guess based on my rudimentary understanding of Seattle's geology (from underground tours :eyeroll:) that a large part of the waterfront/downtown core is quite hosed. Anyone have any resources for any studies done on the liquefaction risk in the downtown region?
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Jul 16, 2015 05:34
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anthonypants posted:The 65 runs up there for rush hour, you can take the streetcar to the aerial tram, even C-TRAN has a bus that goes up there. Well yeah, the point was the aerial tram is good. I didn't know about the C-TRAN bus though.
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Jul 16, 2015 05:36
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krispykremessuck posted:Wasn't the big risk to Seattle liquefaction and landslides (as mentioned)? The number stated in the New Yorker article is 15% of Seattle is on fill, which is prime for liquefaction. What part(s) of Seattle is that? I'd guess based on my rudimentary understanding of Seattle's geology (from underground tours :eyeroll:) that a large part of the waterfront/downtown core is quite hosed. Anyone have any resources for any studies done on the liquefaction risk in the downtown region? http://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/water-and-land/flooding/local-hazard-mitigation-plan-update/liquefaction-hazard-map.pdf I imagine that most of the red areas are probably fill with some of the orange areas also being fill. It looks like downtown is pretty much safe as far as liquefaction goes!
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Jul 16, 2015 05:41
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I'll laugh if this megaquake causes Bertha's tunnel to kill more people than the viaduct ever could've. Assuming the tunnel is ever finished. And assuming anyone can afford the tolls.
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Jul 16, 2015 06:10
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Baronjutter posted:I'm very scared of earthquakes and don't want to think/talk about them. Unfortunately this seems to be government's policy on the matter too. I can assure you the government thinks about this as much as tax payers allow, which is mostly to say quite a bit because the public doesn't want to think about it.
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Jul 16, 2015 14:54
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Irradiation posted:Yeah Corvallis with be fine with regards to any tsunami. It's almost 100 miles south of Portland and the lower parts are good 200 ft higher than the low lying parts of Portland. If you're that worried just live on Witham Hill. Portland's not even going to be impacted by any tsunami. The link I posted says that even a tsunami from a magnitude 9 earthquake will maybe rise the river a couple inches at Portland. Seriously the only people who have cause to be worried about tsunamis are on the coast. (EDIT: Or people living on the other side of the Pacific.) Everyone else just needs to worry about whether the roof will come down on their head.
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Jul 16, 2015 17:27
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Abner Cadaver II posted:Well yeah, the point was the aerial tram is good. I didn't know about the C-TRAN bus though. It is, but it was an over budget boondoggle in it's own right.
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Jul 17, 2015 02:18
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One of my classmates couldn't sleep last night since she's so scared of the big earthquake. 
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Jul 17, 2015 02:39
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precious
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bartkusa posted:I'll laugh if this megaquake causes Bertha's tunnel to kill more people than the viaduct ever could've. The tunnel is specifically engineered to withstand massive earthquakes and will probably be one of the safest places in the city if/when The Big One hits. Reason posted:http://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/water-and-land/flooding/local-hazard-mitigation-plan-update/liquefaction-hazard-map.pdf This is interesting, thanks for posting. Looks like I'm maybe a hundred meters from the red part, not that I trust my 100+ year old house that's on a pretty decent slope.
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Jul 17, 2015 05:04
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A Bag of Milk posted:This is interesting, thanks for posting. Looks like I'm maybe a hundred meters from the red part, not that I trust my 100+ year old house that's on a pretty decent slope. Well the classic thing platitude here is that if your Seattle-area house is 100+ years old then it's already ridden out three major earthquakes just fine.
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Jul 17, 2015 05:43
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There's also a much, much higher chance a car or truck smashes into you on the highway tomorrow then a major quake crushes you.
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Jul 17, 2015 07:21
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