Considering moving to Seattle/Bellevue - Where is safest area against Earthquake? (Oso: buy, best)

[fastfingers33]

I guess a more specific question is, is the 13k quoted number only in Seattle? or is it total from Vancouver all the way to San Francisco.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by fastfingers33

I guess a more specific question is, is the 13k quoted number only in Seattle? or is it total from Vancouver all the way to San Francisco.

Do you seriously think anyone can predict the intensity of the next earthquake or how many will be affected and where they will be located? How can anyone possibly predict that? There could be a small one next year that delays any larger one for decades to come. Or there could be a serious one. If you are this concerned, you probably should look for a place better suited.

It sounds like you are asking these questions in multiple ways in hopes someone will tell you what you want to hear. No one can tell you that.

[kaonevar]

Originally Posted by Seacove

It sounds like you are asking these questions in multiple ways in hopes someone will tell you what you want to hear. No one can tell you that.

THIS.

And honestly, no where is "SAFE". If it's not earthquakes, it's hurricanes. Or tornadoes. Or sinkholes. Or tsunamis. Or forest fires. Or countless other things outside of our control.

We can't control mother nature. Often, we can't predict it either. Life's too short to worry about the what if's like that. Be prepared as best you can and live your life.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by kaonevar

THIS.

And honestly, no where is "SAFE". If it's not earthquakes, it's hurricanes. Or tornadoes. Or sinkholes. Or tsunamis. Or forest fires. Or countless other things outside of our control.

We can't control mother nature. Often, we can't predict it either. Life's too short to worry about the what if's like that. Be prepared as best you can and live your life.

Exactly. The OP should probably avoid the entire West Coast due to earthquake risks. And Missouri had large earthquakes in the early 1800s Historic Earthquakes
so did Oklahoma, so might want to avoid those.

In fact, I heard that all the continents used to be connected and actually broke apart.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQVoSyVu9rk

[IslandCityGirl]

Originally Posted by kaonevar

And honestly, no where is "SAFE". If it's not earthquakes, it's hurricanes. Or tornadoes. Or sinkholes. Or tsunamis. Or forest fires. Or countless other things outside of our control.

We can't control mother nature. Often, we can't predict it either. Life's too short to worry about the what if's like that. Be prepared as best you can and live your life.

Exactly!

Fastfingers33, don't let today's media trend fool you into losing the big-picture-perspective, you know what I mean? This New Yorker article could have just as easily been about the horrors of hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, how hopelessly vulnerable we are to the next 9/11, how unpredictable and devastating the 55 tornadoes per year that hit Oklahoma can be, how dangerous it is to drive a car... Don't get stuck on what's been put in front of you today, especially if, as it sounds from your posts, you're trying to do an honest, overall risk assessment in order to choose a place to live.

Life has the potential to be disastrous everywhere. The PNW still ranks among the lowest in terms of risk of natural disasters throughout the U.S. This data is readily available online. Statistics and forecasts can scare you wherever you go, if you let them. Truth is, as another poster said, it's much more likely that you'll die of heart disease or in a car accident (good driving - as you mentioned as a factor of control earlier - does NOT control what other drivers do, by the way, so that's still just as scary and uncontrollable as an earthquake). Worrying about taking care of your heart would be the best way to spend your risk-prevention energy.

The direct answer to your question about where in the area is safest can't be answered with any real accuracy. You can research the major fault lines, but earthquake epicenters could be in a myriad of different spots, at different depths, etc., etc. The more practical way to look at the risk is using the guidelines that CrazyDonkey gave you earlier: avoid unstable hillsides, live on bedrock, prepare your home in terms of its structure and securing potential falling objects...

All in a good nature, I have to tease you about whether you've seen the Ben Stiller Movie, "Along Came Polly." If you haven't, it's a lesson regarding risk-assessing your life, with plenty of over-the-top slap-stick comedy to go with it. Might shift your perspective a little, or make you hate throw pillows.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by IslandCityGirl

All in a good nature, I have to tease you about whether you've seen the Ben Stiller Movie, "Along Came Polly." If you haven't, it's a lesson regarding risk-assessing your life, with plenty of over-the-top slap-stick comedy to go with it. Might shift your perspective a little, or make you hate throw pillows.

But he was right - don't eat the bar nuts.

[josie13]

Originally Posted by kaonevar

THIS.

And honestly, no where is "SAFE". If it's not earthquakes, it's hurricanes. Or tornadoes. Or sinkholes. Or tsunamis. Or forest fires. Or countless other things outside of our control.

We can't control mother nature. Often, we can't predict it either. Life's too short to worry about the what if's like that. Be prepared as best you can and live your life.

You can prepare diligently, but you can't eliminate all risk. One of the fatalities in the Loma Prieta quake was a man driving on Highway 1 near Watsonville. His car collided with a horse that had broken out from its pasture and was running in terror. The poor man probably never even realized that an earthquake had occurred.

[willow1990]

Before you make a decision, read the article "The Really Big One" by Kathryn Schule in the New Yorker. It is available online. I read the article and it paints a horrific picture of a seismic event. The following are brief quotes from several paragraphs "The Pacific Northwest has no early warning system. When the Cascadia earthquake begins, there will be instead , a cacophony of barking dogs..the homes will begin to collapse...liquefaction, whereby seemingly solid ground start behaving like liquid...when that tsunami is coming you run...you run for your life.

[willow1990]

Originally Posted by kaonevar

THIS.

And honestly, no where is "SAFE". If it's not earthquakes, it's hurricanes. Or tornadoes. Or sinkholes. Or tsunamis. Or forest fires. Or countless other things outside of our control.

We can't control mother nature. Often, we can't predict it either. Life's too short to worry about the what if's like that. Be prepared as best you can and live your life.

I have to disagree about the sinkholes. Floridians know exactly where they are clustered. Yet. Florida continues to allow houses to be built on top of these dangerous areas because its all about the money. There are sinkhole maps for the ignorant but do they seek them out?

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by willow1990

I have to disagree about the sinkholes. Floridians know exactly where they are clustered. Yet. Florida continues to allow houses to be built on top of these dangerous areas because its all about the money. There are sinkhole maps for the ignorant but do they seek them out?

That's because they can't afford to buy on anything else. Same here for below or above an unstable slope - see Oso.