Maybe you could, as long as those lifetimes don't happen to contain that one 6.8 event. I don't think the point was to look back several lifetimes from right no

Maybe you could, as long as those lifetimes don't happen to contain that one 6.8 event. I don't think the point was to look back several lifetimes from right now, but rather to talk about the overall frequency of earthquakes in recorded history. (Caveat: I know nothing about the seismic history of the Pacific NW, this is just how i read the statement.)