3 ms·
When the "big one" hits the pacific NW, bridge design is not going to save significant areas from complete destruction. I am talking about the Cascadian Subduc
by shkkmo 6y ago
When the "big one" hits the pacific NW, bridge design is not going to save significant areas from complete destruction.
I am talking about the Cascadian Subduction Zone letting go which happens every 200 to 1200 years (41 times in the last 10000 years). The last time this happened, in 1700, there was a 9.0 earthquake, a 100 foot tsunami and the coastline dropped several feet.
There is about a ~10% chance this will happen again in the next 50 years. If it does, large areas will be completely unprepared and a very large number of people will die.
- geocrasher 6y agoNot to mention that a very large number of homes in Western Washington are at least 80 years old. The house I live in was built in 1919. It's wood construction and has been gutted/remodeled, but it's also been added onto at least once and has no real foundation, but I think it might be a pier and beam type. An earthquake of large size, 7.0+ will probably cause major damage. For reference, I live near Chehalis, WA.
- cvdub 6y agoPost and pier foundations aren't ideal for earthquakes. In general though, wood performs better than masonry as a quake resistant building material because it can flex.
- geocrasher 6y agoThat is quite true. Unfortunately, most of the communities here still have a large number of brick buildings since they were founded at least 100 years ago, if not much longer.