Most Pacific Northwest say they expect to experience a major earthquake in their lifetime, but a fraction of households say they’re preparing for such a disaster.
A poll of Washington and Oregon residents by PEMCO Mutual found that 82% of Pacific Northwesters believe they will likely experience a historic earthquake at some point in their lifetimes. Additionally, 76% believe the earthquake will have major impacts on our infrastructure, and 58% believe they be without power, water, and electricity for at least one week as a result of the quake.
However, only 19% say they’re “very prepared” for a disaster. A little over one-third (39%) say they’re not prepared at all. Forty-two percent say they’re only somewhat prepared, the poll shows.
Most (61%) households say they have an emergency kit on hand, and 53% have a designated family meeting place. Three-quarters of families with children reported having an emergency kit, compared to 52% of households without kids, according to the poll.
The Pacific Northwest sits near the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a 700-mile-long megathrust fault from northern California up to British Columbia 70 to 100 miles off the Pacific coast shoreline. There have been 43 earthquakes in the last 10,000 years within this fault.
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