Simon Winchester continues his discussion of geological history and assures us that a major earthquake along the west coast is inevitable. In the video, he talks about the San Andreas fault line and the Cascadia subduction zone which runs from California to Vancouver, B.C. The Cascadia fault would be under water which would create tsunamis.
Much area along the west coast is coastal highway with only one way out. The area is flat and if everyone tried to leave at once, the roads would become parking lots.
For every Winchester, there are nay-sayers who say “the big one” will not be like what happened in Japan. Further south, two nuclear plants, San Onofre and Diablo Canyon, both in Southern California, are built along fault lines. Both are built to withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. That would not pass muster in last weeks Japanese quake. Those with California Emergency Management seem to be assured and us that they are ready. That statement seems to ignore the fact that even though something is very improbable, that doesn’t make it impossible.
We can only wait and see if the earthquake cluster theory has validity. There is also some concern on the part of geologists that the super-volcano Yellowstone is due for a dust up. Any eruption of Yellowstone would be disastrous for not just that region but the entire country and Canada because of fallout from the eruption.
Again, now is not the time to cut back on any safety precautions that can help us be ready to survive major attacks from Mother Nature, whether it is hurricane, tornado, and other storm rediction, or earthquake, volcano and tsunami warnings. Our very lives might depend on it. Looking back just 6 years should remind us of the ferocity of Katrina and how there are just some things you can never be totally ready for.
