USA: Inside the plan to prepare the Pacific Northwest for a catastrophic earthquake

A new bill—HR 876, the Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act of 2019—is the latest sign that the idea of an early warning system for the Pacific Northwest’s version of the “Big One” is gaining traction. Sponsored by Democratic congressman Peter DeFazio, representing the 4th Congressional District in Oregon, HR 876 passed the House on February 6 with a voice vote, and is now looking for a companion bill in the Senate.

The bill’s main objective is to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to investigate the best way to purchase and set up an early warning system for the Pacific Northwest. This would require the President to establish an Earthquake and Tsunami Task Force for the region. Led by FEMA, such a task force would bring together multiple agencies, institutions and stakeholders to develop a strategy to plan for, mitigate, respond to and recover from a major quake and tsunami at the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

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Importantly, ShakeAlert is currently an onshore warning system. While onshore seismic listening posts can keep an eye on the Cascadia Subduction Zone to some extent and there are also a handful of listening posts offshore, the West Coast doesn’t really have a dedicated offshore early warning system.

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DeFazio’s bill aims to fill this gap by looking into a system that provides warnings specifically for those offshore quakes, said [said Paul Bodin, the network manager of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network].

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