Listen to the show (mp3, 27.4MB)
Tori and Jocelyn talk with disaster preparedness professional Joe Partridge about “the big one” and other disasters we should be prepared for. Will cargo bikes rescue us? Mike Cobb describes the Disaster Relief Trials.
One response to “KBOO Bike Show: Disaster!”
According to experts the Portland area is not as likely to have a major earthquake as is the So. Oregon and No. California coastline. I obtained five copies of the 200 page USGS report on “Turbidite Event History……” (USGS #1661f) from the team led by Chris Goldfinger and they generally believe that the Portland latitude is in the third most frequent area of activity and that we are also on the eastern edge of the “subduction zone.” Earlier mapping seems to agree, such as by Wang. However, I figure a 8.5-9 quake off Clatsop or Tillamook county would be of long duration and probably scare the pants off us here and since there are a lot of structures that are old or poorly built there would be a lot of damage. However in the more likely case of a big quake near the CA-OR border, there would probably be big floods up all coastal rivers and a lot of rockfalls, in places like CA Hwy 199, lots of landslides if in winter and lots of ground breaking apart and changing elevation—but who knows exactly where it would occur?
Yes, there are some structures on the Oregon Coast that are pretty precarious assuming the worst. Or around Grants Pass, Medford…..or Cave Junction. As far as a statewide policy, I would prefer to see a Rapid Response Strategy to be able to move repair materials and equipment in quickly to fix whatever gets broken…. As compared with the $5.1 billion ODOT proposal floated recently for infrastructure upgrades.
As far as the Portland area, I would like to know why, if a major and lengthy earthquake did occur it would make any more sense to have the glass palace, $250 million plus structure that Multnomah Co. proposes for a courthouse? If that happened, probably the glass exterior would shatter and send hefty glass shards down on people. And it is hard to say whether the structure itself would not be compromised and rendered unsafe. Why not build a courthouse on the east side and sell the downtown location and let a CA developer or Donald Trump take the risk? Do the judges and lawyers need to be close to the delis, and looking out to Mt. Hood—or are they just supposed to be doing their job?