I visited Seattle this weekend...

[Angelic_Avalon]

How safe is Seattle when there is a major earthquake? I thought of visiting there if I liked it, I would move.

[pw72]

A major Seattle quake, actually deep thrust off the coast, is in about a 300 year window currently. Which is a pretty small window measured by time. This is the kind of quake that might reach between 8.0-9.0, and would certainly devastate the coast, whether it be WA or OR, due to the initial shaking, and the likely tsunami that would follow about 20-30 minutes later. Fortunately for WA, our coast is not as populated as OR.

Geologists differ on how this would effect the Puget Sound region. Perhaps some short term in elevation in sea level, but most of the coast would absorb it. Most agree while Seattle is somewhat inland from all this, there would still be some damage and loss of life.

There are also less major quake faults that lie near the city. This could be even worse than the major deep thrust quake off the coast. A 6.0 to 7.0, as we have seen can cause a lot of damage and fatalities. (See 1949, 1965, and 2001.) These type of quakes are known to hit the area with less precision, but a good recent history suggests every 20-40 years.

[RunTheDistance476]

MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't build the new basketball arena in SODO! hahaha!