The disaster in Japan should light a fire under those in government here in the Northwest!!

[Locut0s]

We are expecting an 9+ magnitude quake to hit the Northwest some time in the next century or so. Possibly sooner. Let me tell you here in Vancouver we are NOT FUCKING PREPARED! Japan is undoubtedly the best prepared country in the world earthquake wise. The death toll there is high and will climb much higher but make no mistake it would have been even higher if it had not been for their amazing engineering and social planning. Most in Japan are used to frequent earthquake drills and earthquake preparedness is woven into the very fabric of their culture, to say nothing of their buildings. There have been some token measures taken here in Vancouver, they are seismically upgrading schools and some public buildings. They upgraded the damn near where I live some time ago. But it's no where near enough. The fact that we don't feel frequent tremors like our neighbours down south in California is not a sign that we are safe, the opposite is true as it means the pressure along the fault is not being released at all. We need to stop kidding ourselves here in the Northwest and come to our senses that we ARE living in a DANGEROUS earthquake zone and we need to start making earthquake planning not only part of our civic plans but our general cultural plans as well. For example they should hold city wide earthquake drills once a year like they do in Tokyo. Every household should be urged STRONGLY to make an earthquake plan and prepare an earthquake kit (water, first aid, radio, batteries etc...). ALL major tall structures should be structurally examined and retrofitted as necessary. MAKE IT PART OF AN ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE! Pump money into infrastructure preparedness to make new jobs.

I'm sure Seattle to our south is no better off in this. As it stands now both cities would face catastrophic damage during the coming mega earthquake that IS going to strike. It's only a mater of time.

[avaistheone1]

1. I hope this disaster lights a fire any community or government considering expanding nuclear power.

k&r

[inademv]

11. Because the threat of a tsunami and monster earthquake

are always looming eh?

[truedelphi]

15. Also among factors continually looming -

The high cost of storage, and impossibility of getting any community to want to store the nuclear waste.

The expense, and the hidden diseases, and the cost of the hidden diseases.

The possibility of sabotage, the possibility of a terrorist strike, the usual inadequate security around the nuclear plants, stolen nuclear materials to sell on the black markets, and of course as has been demonstrated recently - Mother Nature is not always a friend to humankind.

[Old and In the Way]

2. Well, smarter people will heed the experience of Japan and start planning accordingly.

I would think there's going to be a sobering re-assessment of the civil emergency plans in places like Seattle....assuming the wingers have any self-awareness and won't be willing to risk their own lives to maintain their anti-social ideals of rugged individualism. It's amazing when a disaster strikes how quickly these people have an attitude change about the role of government in their lives. Every friggen' time.

[KT2000]

3. Tell me about it

We finally got rid of the huge chlorine tank (from a pulp mill) that was sitting on fill next to the Port Angeles Harbor. Now they want to put a poo collection tank there. Our only hospital is built on a fragile cliff in PA. Wherever there are cliffs they want to build convention centers etc.

The city poobahs could care less about earthquakes or tsunamis. Some of them are anxious for the end times and don't want to do anything to forestall that.

They absolutely refuse to listen to any precautions. Our only hope is the Ecology will stop them from doing the worst in the interest of protecting the Sound. It is absolutely pathetic.

Where I live, the ground will turn liquid and slide into the Strait of Juan deFuca. I told relatives to not even look for me. I just hope I am not in PA at the time of the big one.

[pokerfan]

4. Unlike you Canuckleheads we 'Merkins will handle this with our usual aplomb

[Rabblevox]

5. Portland, slightly farther south and inland, is not a bit better prepared.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is going to go one of these days, and it won't be pretty. And when it hits, what about the Hanford nuclear reservation, in all it's aged toxic splendor?

btw, you're damn skippy it's time for individuals, families, and communities to plan for dealing with disiaster.

[pokerfan]

8. This was our wake up call

“This is an earthquake of the same type, with about the same magnitude and proximity that we face here in the Pacific Northwest from the Cascadia Subduction Zone. What you are seeing in Japan today is what you will also see in our future. Except they are better prepared than we are.” (Robert Yeats, Oregon State University)

http://planetsave.com/2011/03/14/pacific-northwest-will-suffer-same-fate-as-japan/">Pacific Northwest Will Suffer Same Fate as Japan

[neverforget]

16. You got that right! we aren't prepared one bit for something this big.

[PufPuf23]

6. I am glad the nuke is gone from Humboldt Bay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Bay_Nuclear_Power_Plant

Thi was one of the earliest commercial nuke plants in the USA.

[JDPriestly]

7. There is no way that we in Los Angeles could evacuate our city in

a reasonable amount of time.

[Rabblevox]

10. L.A. is one of the cities I'd least like to be in when Shit Hits The Fan. /nt

[SnohoDem]

9. Seattle

was no better when I left there a few years ago. There seemed to be recognition of the problem, but no will to fix it.

[regnaD kciN]

13. Not sure I agree with you there...

While we haven't experienced anything like the Japanese quake, Seattle rode out the 6.8 Nisqually Quake of 2001 (a lot less strong but much closer) with only a couple of buildings in Pioneer Square damaged -- no fatalities or even serious injuries.

The biggest risk in Seattle right now is the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and that will be coming down over the next few years.

[Kalun D]

18. Don't Forget the Nuclear Submarine Base

That sucker goes off we are all dead.

[99th_Monkey]

12. From where I stand in Portland OR, it's like looking into a mirror

Damn. I have so many beloved family members rooted here, both biological and otherwise.

Leave? I don't think so.

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. I wish the government would give us inducements to use solar panels

for our electricity needs at home.

[Locut0s]

17. Don't they in some areas? nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. So I've heard.