Getting ready for The Big One

Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management is presenting a series of webinars to detail how they will respond when a major earthquake comes our way. Note, we say WHEN, not IF. It’s coming, we just don’t know when. It’s overdue, which makes us even more nervous. Recent research says that a rupture of the Seattle Fault, that runs east-west under Harbor Island and Beacon Hill, is likely to be more damaging to Seattle than the much discussed Cascadia Subduction Fault that runs north-south off the west coast of Washington. The Seattle Fault is relatively shallow so the effects of even a modest quake will be strong. Many of the older commercial buildings along 45th are unreinforced masonry, which is especially at risk.

The first webinar is scheduled for this Thursday, May 27, 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. It is titled “City of Seattle Earthquake Response: Overview of Response Priorities”. If you would like to see it, sign in at http://bit.ly/SeattleEQResponseWebinar. Here is the description of what they will cover:

Seattle Office of Emergency Management staff will provide an overview of our region’s earthquake risk, likely earthquake impacts, and describe what a local government response to a catastrophic earthquake looks like. This will include an overview of citywide response priorities and coordination, how the city communicates emergency information to the public, and key preparedness actions the public can take before an earthquake happens.

The Wallingford Emergency Preparedness Committee has been on hiatus these past several years. We expect to try to reorganize it early this summer when we can once again join together for a discussion of how we can help get our neighborhood ready to respond to the sudden impact on our neighborhood and our neighbors. Keep a watch for an announcement here on Wallyhood.