Preparedness
The beauty of the Pacific Northwest comes in large part from the very geologic processes that generate earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. Living safely here requires us to recognize the geologic hazards of our region and to take steps to protect ourselves, our communities, and our businesses from the potential losses these hazards can create.
Oregon and Washington face significant risk of experiencing a megathrust earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a 600-mile-long fault off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Subduction zone faults can produce the largest earthquakes on Earth. Our region has an even higher likelihood of experiencing a shallow crustal fault earthquake or a deep intraplate earthquake like the one that hit Nisqually, Washington in 2001. These earthquakes could cause extensive damage to homes and critical infrastructure and disrupt normal services like utilities and transportation for days, weeks, or even months.
We are not the first to face this challenge. Individuals and communities cannot control the likelihood that earthquakes and other natural disasters will occur. But people can control their risk, or the likelihood that people will be hurt or that property will be damaged. Decades of experience with geologic hazards in our modern built environment have led to safer building codes, land use regulations, and low-cost interventions that can greatly reduce the risk of injury or serious losses in future earthquakes and eruptions.
Taking steps to get prepared at the household and workplace level will ensure that individuals are warned before a disaster occurs, stay safe while it unfolds, and have access to basic necessities and communication with loved ones after it ends. Getting prepared for earthquakes can seem like a daunting or expensive project. But there are many simple and inexpensive steps you can take.
Sign Up For Emergency Alerts
You can sign up for free emergency alerts that will notify you if a disaster is occurring in your town and keep you updated as it unfolds. Having multiple ways to receive alerts is important.
Double check your phone settings to ensure that “Emergency Alerts” are enabled. Both Android and Apple phones have settings that impact your ability to get alerts from the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. If you have an iPhone, enable “Local Awareness” as well as “Emergency Alerts” to ensure more timely alerts. Alerts from Android, Apple, or WEA are turned on by default.
Enabling "Emergency Alerts" will also ensure you can receive alerts from the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System. The ShakeAlert System uses a dense sensor network to rapidly detect earthquakes and deliver alerts before shaking arrives. By giving people time to protect themselves, ShakeAlert can save lives. The ShakeAlert System is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in partnership with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and other state and university partners. You can also download the MyShake earthquake early warning app.
If you live in Oregon, you can also sign up to receive emergency alerts from your local and county governments via OR-Alert.
Receiving an alert is only useful if you know how to respond. As soon as you receive an earthquake early warning alert or feel earthquake shaking, you should Drop, Cover, Hold On. This action will reduce the likelihood that you will get injured due to falling or from an object falling on you. Additional recommendations for protective actions (such as if you are driving or in bed when shaking arrives) are available on the Earthquake Country Alliance website.
Practice earthquake protective actions regularly by participating in ShakeOut. ShakeOut is the world's largest earthquake drill and happens every year on the third Thursday of October. Register your drill at ShakeOut.org.
Develop an Emergency Plan
Disasters can place people in scary and unpredictable situations. You can get separated from your loved ones or need to evacuate from your home. Creating an emergency plan empowers you to know ahead of time how you would respond in these situations.
In your emergency plan, think through where you would go if you needed to evacuate, as well as what you would do if you had to shelter in place for an extended period of time.
Because internet and cell service may be down, make plans with your family about when and where you would reunify. Identify a friend or family member in a different region that can be a point of contact for check-ins in case local power, internet, or cell service is disrupted.
It is important to consider and include people who are elderly or disabled in your plan. Don't forget to account for pets.
Be sure to discuss your emergency plan with your family, neighbors, and other loved ones.
Build an Emergency Kit
It is important to build an emergency kit with a two-week supply of basic necessities like food, water, and medications. This will ensure you can survive even if access to critical goods and services becomes disrupted for several days and aid takes time to arrive. Additionally, having an emergency kit takes pressure off of emergency responders so they can prioritize life-threatening situations and help the most vulnerable.
Be sure to include special supplies for children, elderly people, disabled people, and pets in your kit.
Purchasing supplies for an emergency kit does not have to be expensive. Even purchasing one extra box or can of non-perishable food each week can help.
It can also be helpful to build a go-bag with critical necessities for a few days, including important documents, in case you have to evacuate your home suddenly.
Protect Your Home
Earthquakes can cause structural damage to older or poorly constructed homes. For example, homes can slide off their foundations and their cripple walls could collapse. Unreinforced masonry buildings, which make up the downtown core of many Pacific Northwest cities, are especially vulnerable. Seismic retrofits can modify homes to make them more resistant to this damage.
Earthquake shaking can topple heavy furniture, knock books and dishes off shelves, shake pictures or televisions off of wall mounts, and damage your home’s nonstructural components. Doing a home hazards hunt can make you aware of these possible safety risks and provide an opportunity to mitigate them.
Take 30 minutes to walk through your home. Imagine what would happen inside it during an earthquake. Make a list of these potential hazards as well as ideas for how to address them. This could include securely fastening heavy furniture and water heaters to walls, installing safety fasteners on cabinets and shelves, and removing pictures and mirrors from the wall above your bed.
A home hazards hunt is also an opportunity to learn how to turn off gas valves. This could prevent fires if gas lines break during an earthquake.
During your home hazards hunt, take a few extra minutes to list and photograph your possessions. If your home is damaged during an earthquake, this documentation can help you file insurance claims.
Additional Resources
Learn more about preparedness from our state and federal partners: