Seattle seismic risk

The views expressed below are solely those of the author. The PNSN strongly shares his concerns regarding the alarming number of seismically-unsafe school buildings and the lack of urgency in addressing this hazard to the children of Washington state.

Jim Buck is a West Point graduate with an engineeering degree. He's worked on everything to from septic systems to nuclear plants. Jim served in the Legislature from to He volunteers his engineering and legislative experience to help the Olympic Peninsula prepare for the Cascadia Earthquake. We can use the schools for shelters and the kids can help with rescue and response. This report summarizes the earthquake risk at school buildings schools at campuses across the state.

There can be no question as to the accuracy of their findings. However, the report is so long and technical that it is difficult for most people to read.

It is not surprising that there was no fanfare, no press coverage and no public outcry. Unless you are an engineer, reading the study is incomprehensible - so let me break this down for you.

A large earthquake far away will feel like a gentle bump followed several seconds later by stronger rolling shaking that may feel like sharp shaking for a little while. A small earthquake nearby will feel like a small sharp jolt followed by a few stronger sharp shakes that pass quickly.

Is Seattle on a fault line? The Seattle Fault is a zone of multiple shallow east-west thrust faults that cross the Puget Sound Lowland and through Seattle in the U. Extensive research has since shown the Seattle Fault to be part of a regional system of faults. What size earthquake can you feel? When was the last major earthquake in Washington? How likely is the Cascadia earthquake?

It is simply not scientifically feasible to predict, or even estimate, when the next Cascadia earthquake will occur, but the calculated odds that a Cascadia earthquake will occur in the next 50 years range from percent for a great earthquake affecting the entire Pacific Northwest to about 37 percent for a very.

How do you track earthquake activity? Seismic monitoring utilizes sensitive seismographs to record the ground motion from seismic waves created by earthquakes or other sources. Seismograms from seismic monitoring stations can be used to determine the location, origin time, and magnitude as well as other characteristics of earthquakes. How many earthquakes are there in the world today?

Earthquakes Today brings you the world's recent and latest earthquakes. Worldwide there are around earthquakes each day , each year. When was the last earthquake in Puerto Rico?

Starting on December 28, , and progressing into , the southwestern part of the island of Puerto Rico was struck by an earthquake swarm, including 11 that were of magnitude 5 or greater. Was there an earthquake in Oregon just now? CNN An earthquake with a magnitude of 6. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The quake happened around a. It is a particularly useful method for situations in which:.

The force from an earthquake may cause a building to shake and shift from side to side. As a result, walls may collapse or structures like windows or skylights may become loose and fall out of place. These heavy panes of glass pose serious risk to those inside the building and may even break apart, producing lethal jagged shards. The problem is, replacing windows with systems that meet this design criteria is often expensive. A great solution is to install earthquake mitigation film for your Seattle property.

Safety window film can be used to engineer a solution that complies with local seismic codes. Get the right solution based on the unique architectural composition and specifications of your building. At Seattle Window Film, we know that no two buildings are the same.