September 2021 THE CHARBONNEAU VILLAGER 3
EPPS
By SANDY BATTE
Preparedness is key for a subduction zone earthquake
I can hear the collective moans , “ We ’ ve had so many emergencies to face in the last 18 months , must I think about the “ Big One ?” The answer is a resounding yes !
This is why : The good news is that it is unlikely you will die in our subduction zone earthquake when it occurs . The bad news is that it is unlikely that you will die in our subduction zone earthquake when it occurs ! It is bad news because if you are not prepared , your life is going to be very miserable for at least two weeks and perhaps a great deal longer . You will be reliant on neighbors who have taken emergency preparedness seriously !
Let ’ s all remember lessons learned from those emergencies we have faced in the past 18 months ! How uncomfortable we all were with no electricity , heat and phone service . Think about that stretching out to more than two weeks and add no water or sewage service to the list of what we will have to do without !
In 2015 , The New Yorker magazine gave us these indisputable , scientific facts :
“ The Pacific Northwest sits squarely within the Ring of Fire , the volcanically and seismically volatile swath of the Pacific . Off Oregon ’ s coast , an oceanic plate is slipping beneath a continental one known as the Cascadia subduction zone , it runs for seven hundred miles off the coast of the Pacific Northwest , beginning near Cape Mendocino , California , continuing along Oregon and Washington , and terminating around Vancouver Island , Canada .”
“ Scientists now know that at approximately nine o ’ clock at night on January 26 , 1700 , a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck the Pacific Northwest . They have determined that the Pacific Northwest has experienced forty-one subductionzone earthquakes in the past ten thousand years . If you divide ten thousand by forty-one , you get two hundred and forty-three , which is Cascadia ’ s recurrence interval : the average amount of time that elapses between earthquakes . Counting from the earthquake of 1700 , we are now three hundred and twentyone years into a two-hundred-and-fortythree-year cycle .”
“ When the next full-margin rupture happens , our region will suffer the worst natural disaster in the history of North America . The area of impact will cover some hundred and forty thousand square miles , including Seattle , Tacoma , Portland , Eugene , Salem , Olympia , and some seven million people . For context : roughly three thousand people died in San Francisco ’ s 1906 earthquake . Almost two thousand died in Hurricane Katrina . FEMA projects that nearly thirteen thousand people will die in the Cascadia earthquake and tsunami ( most of these West of the I-5 corridor ). Another twenty-seven thousand will be injured , and the agency expects that it will need to provide shelter for a million displaced people , and food and water for another two and a half million .”
Note : Locally it is expected that the Boone Bridge would be collapsed or unusable .
You can read the New Yorker article in its entirety at https :// www . newyorker . com / magazine / 2015 / 07 / 20 / the-reallybig-one
What can we possibly do with this information ?
Don ’ t be scared , be prepared !
Your Charbonneau Emergency Preparedness / Public Safety ( EPPS ) Committee has a plan in place to help residents care for themselves in the event of this kind of major disaster . Resiliency , which is defined as , “ The process of adapting well in the face of adversity , trauma , tragedy , threats or significant sources of stress ” is the key to survival . Repeated studies done after major earthquakes , hurricanes and floods have proven that resilient individuals and communities have higher survival and recovery rates .
Thanks to a dedicated cadre of volunteer captains in our HOAs , Charbonneau is far better prepared to face emergencies than the average community . We have made it through the pandemic ,
See EPPS / Page 4
What can you learn about senior living at our upcoming event ?
A whole bunch . It ’ s casual . It ’ s easy . And you ’ re invited .
Lunch & Learn THURSDAY , SEPT . 16 TH • 11:30AM Join us for an informative presentation on senior living and the exceptional services & safeguards offered at SpringRidge . Afterwards , take a tour and enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by our culinary team . Seating is limited . To RSVP , please call 503.925.4968 .
CARF-ACCREDITED INDEPENDENT , ASSISTED LIVING AND MEMORY CARE RESIDENCES
32200 SW French Prairie Road • Wilsonville SpringRidgeatCharbonneau . com • 503.925.4968
AN SRG SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY
EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY