The threat of a massive and catastrophic earthquake wrecking havoc in our region has been captured in numerous newspaper articles. Information about the potential for disaster from geologists and other experts has increased in recent years. As a result, government agencies have stepped up efforts to prepare for a coordinated response if, more likely when, the quake strikes. Here are several informative articles from the print media. We encourage you to read them as you hope for the best and prepare yourselves and your families for such a worst-case-scenario event. Click on the highlighted titles below to open the articles.
Explore the Pacific Northwest's hidden danger: a potential megaquake. Click this boldfaced heading to access National Geographic's The Pacific Northwest Megaquake (Full Episode) for details regarding the predicted Cascadia Subduction mega thrust earthquake. The video shares that Zone X-raying the Earth has revealed a fault on the Pacific Northwest coast, where a megaquake and a tsunami could devastate the region. Using scientific data and real-world examples, this Nat Geo episode examines the Cascadia fault and its devastating history. Discover how scientists are racing to understand the threat and prepare for the inevitable.
A massive earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone could unleash a tsunami and sink parts of the Pacific Northwest by several feet. A 2025 study suggests that when the next "Big One" hits, coastal land could sink by up to 6 feet. That sudden drop could instantly double the number of people, homes, and roads exposed to flooding. Click this boldfaced heading to access an August 2025 PBS-NOVA video, The Next Big Earthquake Could Sink Parts of the Pacific Northwest. How are you preparing for this eventuality?
Click here to view the article, How to Stay Safe When the Big One Comes, by Kathryn Schulz (July 28, 2015). At the end of the long and informative article, the author writes, “That’s one way of looking at life in the Pacific Northwest: it’s a wonderful activity, but to do it safely you need to understand its inherent risks and work to allay them.”
Click here to read, Juan de Fuca Plate is Making Moves and Big Changes Are Coming (August 19, 2015), the second paragraph of which reads, “Through a variety of methods, modeling and ongoing research, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, lasting 4-10 minutes is projected to occur at any moment and impact Sequim, along with all other nearby coastal communities as a result of the plate’s movement. That reality has local and regional emergency management officials preparing for the worst.”
Click here to read a copy of The Great Quake and the Great Drowning, by Ann Finkbeiner (September 14, 2015), in the Hakai Magazine, the sub-heading for which reads, "Mega-quakes have periodically rocked North America’s Pacific Northwest. Indigenous people told terrifying stories about the devastation but refused to leave."
Click here to access the article, Washington state's plan for megaquake "grossly inadequate," review finds, by Sandi Doughton and Daniel Gilbert (October 22, 2016) in the Seattle Times, the opening statement in which reads, "The largest disaster drill ever conducted in the Pacific Northwest found that, despite decades of warnings, the region remains dangerously unprepared to deal with a Cascadia megaquake and tsunami." Improv events have been madder since this article was published, but preparations remain largely inadequate given the magnitude of this threat.