Prepared for the worst: Washington National Guard takes part in readiness drill for a megaquake and tsunami that could kill THOUSANDS
The exercise was part of a four-day event called Cascadia Rising
It is built around the premise of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake 95 miles off the coast of Oregon
Research suggests that the Cascadia Subduction Zone on average produces magnitude 9.0 quakes every 500 years
Big quakes have been separated by as few as 200 years and as many as 1,000, so it’s impossible to predict when the next monster quake occurs
However, tectonic stresses have been accumulating for more than 300 years and seismologists say it could rupture any time
DailyMail.com
10 June 2016
Members of the Washington National Guard took park in a megaquake and tsunami drill Thursday, in preparation for a dual natural disaster which could kill thousands.
It was part of a four-day event that ends Friday, called Cascadia Rising.
The event is built around the premise of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake 95 miles off the coast of Oregon that results in a tsunami.
Both events would likely destroy buildings, roads and buildings and disrupt communications.
Parachutes slowly floated down from Chinook helicopters, first carrying boxes of supplies and then the paratroopers who set up a field operations center as part of the readiness drill for a megaquake and tsunami.
Chief Warrant Officer James Pierce packed up his parachute and grabbed his gear shortly after hitting the ground Thursday at Sanderson Field, an airfield in the small city of Shelton on the west side of Puget Sound.
Parachuting in may be the only option for some responders following a massive earthquake, especially to get to remote locations that are rendered undriveable.
‘It’s a good, effective way to get gear to the ground,’ Pierce said.
For the drill, the airfield and adjoining Mason County Fairgrounds have been converted into a staging area with hundreds of members of the National Guard, a tactical operations center where officials communicate directly with officials at Camp Murray and a trauma center.
Emergency officials believe Shelton will be the closest airfield to the Washington coast — about 70 miles west of Seattle — to survive the disaster.
‘After a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, we fully anticipate that roads are going to be cut off, bridges are going to be down and we’re going to have isolated pockets of people that are going to need some help and support,’ said Major General Bret Daugherty, commander of the Washington National Guard.
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