[adamhi]

> Kenneth Murphy, who directs FEMA’s Region X, the division responsible for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, says, “Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast.”

I remember when this article came out, my mom called me and said "you'll be okay, you're east of I-5, right?"

"Yeah mom."

About 6 blocks east. Plenty of cushion.

[ripper1138]

Ha… it’s not like the earthquake will stop at I-5 like it’s a magic shield. If the quake knocks out utilities and services everywhere west of the cascades, this I-5 ‘line’ is meaningless.

[verdverm]

I believe they are referring to the tsunami that follows the earthquake, based on evidence from before the Europeans colonized the continent.

[rootusrootus]

At least in Oregon, I-5 is 50 miles away from the coast and separated from it by a small mountain range. I don't think we're too worried about tsunamis getting all the way to I-5. Definitely will get to Highway 101 in some spots, however. But a lot of the coastline is tall enough that you can usually find a safe place nearby if a tsunami warning sounds.

[shagie]

> But a lot of the coastline is tall enough that you can usually find a safe place nearby if a tsunami warning sounds.

I recall driving US-101 in Oregon some years back and kept seeing "Tsunami evacuation route" signs.

https://www.oregon.gov/oem/Documents/Tsunami_Evacuation_Sign...

[Fatnino]

We have those all along the Pacific coast.

[shagie]

Yep. I only recall seeing them in Oregon though - not California or Washington (Washington has warning signs for everything else though - including no warning signs - https://i.imgur.com/T868pkg.jpg )

[zardo]

> But a lot of the coastline is tall enough that you can usually find a safe place nearby if a tsunami warning sounds.

On the bright side, you won't need a siren, If the ground drops by 10 meters over the course of 5 minutes and you can't stand up because of the shaking, you can be sure a tsunamui up to 30 meters high will be there in an hour or two.

[verdverm]

You didn't read the article, this is exactly what they are talking about

[mannykannot]

While some sections of I-5 are probably within the tsunami zone, I think much of it is beyond it. IIRC (I have not read the article since its original publication) this rule-of-thumb encompasses all the posited earthquake's structural and infrastructural damage at a level calling for FEMA-level assistance.

The remark is clearly only intended to give an impression of the magnitude of the worst-case scenario.

[itza1]

They are not—simply the shaking. The tsunami will only be a few feet tall at most in that part of Puget Sound.

[PrairieFire]

separately, there’s risk from lahars from mt. Baker and mt. Rainier. Catastrophic Baker lahars could potentially bury even Renton based on some estimates.

[shagie]

Don't forget Mt. Hood. The Sandy River is named as such because of a lahar from a decade prior.

Eruption-related lahars and sedimentation response downstream of Mount Hood: Field guide to volcaniclastic deposits along the Sandy River, Oregon -- https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/file_mngr/file-59/Pierson%20e...

> The Sandy River was originally named the Quicksand River by Lewis and Clark in 1805 (Moulton and Dunlay, 1990). Expedition members noted that the river (a) was ~275 m wide at its mouth and for several kilometers upstream on the delta (30-150 m wide there today); (b) had a number of mid Channel Islands; and (c) had flow which was turbid and very shallow (resembling the Platte River in Nebraska, they noted). It was given its name because "the bed of this stream is formed entirely of quick sand."

https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/old.2000/fs060-00/fs060-00.pdf

> What happened? The answer lay 50 miles away at Mount Hood. An eruption in the 1790's caused a tremendous amount of volcanic rock and sand to enter the Sandy River drainage. That sediment was still being flushed downstream when Lewis and Clark saw and named the river. Since 1806, the river has removed the excess sediment from its channel.

[Fatnino]

You have transposed a 0 and an 8 and brought the Lewis and Clark expedition 720 years into its past.

[shagie]

Thank you - corrected. For some reason that PDF didn't want to copy and paste.

[ISL]

Lahars from Rainier might bury Renton, but definitely not from Baker :).

[blueprint]

the tsunami is almost certainly not going to reach i95. the shaking is the bigger issue for most of WA and OR.

[originalvichy]

That’s the joke.

[bell-cot]

True in some ways...but looking at a map of "% of population surviving the initial tsunami" would probably reveal a fuzzy north-south line. That'll be kinda important to FEMA.

(From the tone of "About 6 blocks east. Plenty of cushion.", I'll guess that actual topographic maps don't give adamhi much cause for optimism.)

[kurthr]

Yes, but it won't be toast... it will be the hash and eggs that go with the toast!

[dieselgate]

This made me laugh as I'm about 2 blocks West of Hwy 5 in wa

[thanatos519]

City blocks, or Minecraft blocks? :D

[andrepd]

Aka metres x)

[CapitalistCartr]

And you never venture West of it, right?