Here's hoping all of our members in the Seattle area are safe and sound. -ashton *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
For those not aware of what Ashton is referring to, a 7.0 earthquake has been reported in the Pacific Northwest. for more details, see: http://www.foxnews.com/national/022801/seattle_quake.sml Hey, Doug. Were you on the water at the time? Tsunami warning has been canceled (according to Fox news... I didn't even know there had been a tsunami warning issued). Jackie > From: Ashton Treadway <ashton_at_tundra.org> > > Here's hoping all of our members in the Seattle area are safe and sound. > > -ashton *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
<melissa sits at her 'puter, wearing her PFD> On 02/28/2001 at 12:31 PM Jackie Fenton wrote: >For those not aware of what Ashton is referring to, a 7.0 earthquake >has been reported in the Pacific Northwest. -snip- > >Hey, Doug. Were you on the water at the time? Hello there! Melissa here, emerging from "deep lurk mode". I do hope Doug and family (and everyone else here in the beautiful PNW) are all fine. I was actually getting ready to go out on the water myself, and came in the house to find out where it was centered (and to gather up kitty and 'cello - just in case). When I found out it was centered near Olympia (south of Seattle), I relaxed a bit, as that pretty much reassured me that there wouldn't be a Tsunami. However - boaty is *always* ready to surf! :-) Seriously though - I always have my "earthquake kit" ready and in my car, and with cat, 'cello, and boaty always at the ready to head inland if need be. Looking at the surf as I type, it looks normal enough. > >Tsunami warning has been canceled (according to Fox news... I didn't >even know there had been a tsunami warning issued). There weren't any Tsunami sirens going locally (Copalis Beach/Ocean Shores/Westport). And From: Ashton Treadway <ashton_at_tundra.org> >> >> Here's hoping all of our members in the Seattle area are safe and sound. Thank you Ashton. I'm out on the outer WA coast, but I know there are many Paddlewisers (and non PW paddlers too!) in Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia area. I too, hope they're all fine. Melissa *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Not much damage here where I live in Seattle. The geologists are telling us that because the quake center was very deep, we probably won't get any aftershocks. (Just the same, I plan to sleep in my car tonight!) Jack Fu ----- Original Message ----- From: Jackie Fenton <jackie_at_intelenet.net> To: <paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net> Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 12:31 PM Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Puget-sound area paddlers... > For those not aware of what Ashton is referring to, a 7.0 earthquake > has been reported in the Pacific Northwest. > > for more details, see: > > http://www.foxnews.com/national/022801/seattle_quake.sml > > Hey, Doug. Were you on the water at the time? > > Tsunami warning has been canceled (according to Fox news... I didn't > even know there had been a tsunami warning issued). > > Jackie > > > > From: Ashton Treadway <ashton_at_tundra.org> > > > > Here's hoping all of our members in the Seattle area are safe and sound. > > > > -ashton > > *************************************************************************** > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed > here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire > responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. > Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net > Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net > Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ > *************************************************************************** > > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 02:32 PM 2/28/01 -0800, Jack Fu wrote: >Not much damage here where I live in Seattle. > >The geologists are telling us that because the quake center was very >deep, we probably won't get any aftershocks. (Just the same, I plan to >sleep in my car tonight!) Just don't park it near a brick building, okay. I've been following the reports about the PNW quake somewhat because I'm noticing several difference between this one and the Loma Prieta quake in 1989 even though the magnitude was nearly the same. The depth on the Loma Prieta quake was 11 miles and that seems to have made a big difference. I lived 10 miles from it's epicenter and felt a *lot* of aftershocks, a couple of which in the 5.0 range. The scariest time was after the 7.1 quake just waiting for the next aftershock, and more specifically wondering when they were actually going to stop. The waiting lasted for several weeks. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
According to the earthquake web page - There are a couple of earthquakes around the Loma Linda, CA location within the past couple of minutes ... Maybe the big one, is on the way ?? Wayne --------------- Ashton Treadway wrote: > Here's hoping all of our members in the Seattle area are safe and sound. > > -ashton *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
As someone that was in both the Loma Prieta quake and the recent quake centered between Tacoma and Olympia. The recent quake didn't seem as intense. The period of really intense shaking wasn't as long or quite as intense. PNW quakes seem to have a different quality, there is usually a much longer duration gentle rolling quality to the last part of the quake. You also don't notice a lot of the smaller PNW quakes, it needs to be at least a 5.+ to even get any notice. No noticable aftershocks to the PNW quake yet, while for the Loma Prieta quake, there were a lot of aftershocks. A neighbor was on vacation, and there were enough aftershocks that his car alarm was almost continually getting re-triggered until someone disconnected his battery (to save his battery and everyone elses nerves). Also not as wide spread power failures with the PNW quake. Maybe I've just become more relaxed about natural disasters. Worse case, dig out the camping gear and camp out at or near your house. At least having a spare bed, lighting, and stove... Anyone with a knowledge of the different types of plates between the two areas care to comment (off list) about how the nature of the faults is different? Getting far from paddle oriented stuff... Some of the paddles and gear in the garage fell over, still going around and picking stuff up. I haven't closely checked the kayaks that were resting in the rafters of the barn yet, A quick check in there didn't show them on the floor. Suspension from the rafters is probably a good storage location during a quake, perhaps with a bow and stern line to prevent a kayak from turning into a mini battering ram and punching a hole in a wall... Hmm, earthquake lashing for gear in storage (it was just leaned against the wall). Is it overkill? Maybe we a really expensive, lightweight carbon fiber paddle, I might make sure its more secure in storage, yeah, if I had such a paddle... dave John Fereira wrote: > > I've been following the reports about the PNW quake somewhat because > I'm noticing several difference between this one and the Loma Prieta > quake in 1989 even though the magnitude was nearly the same. The > depth on the Loma Prieta quake was 11 miles and that seems to have > made a big difference. I lived 10 miles from it's epicenter and > felt a *lot* of aftershocks, a couple of which in the 5.0 range. > The scariest time was after the 7.1 quake just waiting for the > next aftershock, and more specifically wondering when they were > actually going to stop. The waiting lasted for several weeks. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Uebele" <daveu_at_sptddog.com> Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Puget-sound area paddlers... > As someone that was in both the Loma Prieta quake and the recent > quake centered between Tacoma and Olympia. The recent quake didn't seem > as intense. The period of really intense shaking wasn't as long or > quite as intense. PNW quakes seem to have a different > quality, there is usually a much longer duration gentle rolling quality > to the last part of the quake. > > Anyone with a knowledge of the different types of plates between > the two areas care to comment (off list) about how the nature of > the faults is different? > The quake yesterday (which my house in Seattle survived with zero damage except for scaring my cat into a fern bush) was a deep inter-plate quake on the boundary of the North American continental plate and the Juan de Fuca oceanic plate. As you all should know from geology 101 (grin), the Juan de Fuca plate is subducting under the NA plate, which means that is diving under and eventually melting into oblivion into the Mantle. Some of the melted plate rises upward and forms the multiple stratovolcanos in Cascadia (e.g. Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Shasta, etc). It's a shallow angle subduction zone, so the quake was 100 miles inland from the coast and 30 miles deep. It's the depth of the quake that limited the impact, because much of the high frequency shaking energy was attenuated by travelling 30 miles underground to reach the surface. There is nothing special about quakes in the PNW that makes them less mild, except for the location of this particular one. There are shallow faults in the PNW, such as the Seattle fault which has a potential for a magnitude 7 tremblor. This would be very similar in character to the Loma Prieta quake. Or the quake could occur at a shallow portion of the subducting plate towards the coast, also giving rise to much more destructive energy. In fact, this is a very scary thought, because that kind of quake would likely be of magnitude 8-9 causing awesome destruction not to mention severe tsunamis. The last time this happened was in 1700 according to tree-ring records and the recording of a correlated tsunami in Japan. The period of such quakes is about 300 years on average (*gulp*), with variations between 200 to 600 years so don't hold your breath waiting for it. Technically, the quake yesterday was on a thrust-fault while the Loma Prieta was on a strike-slip fault. But the major difference destructive energy was caused by the depth of the epicenter. Both quakes occur on inter-plate boundaries. The San Andreas fault is the boundary between the NA continental plate and the Pacific oceanic plate -- these plates are just sliding by each other. The Juan de Fuca plate is sandwiched between the NA and Pacific plates, and is being subducted under the NA plate. Cheers, kevin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Anyone with a knowledge of the different types of plates between > the two areas care to comment (off list) about how the nature of > the faults is different? For those whose interest in geology has been piqued by this event, I would recommend some books by John McPhee. His name has come up before on this list as the author of "Survival Of The Birchbark Canoe". He has written several very interesting and readable books about the geology of the US. They are, (if I recall correctly) "Basin And Range", "Arising From The Plains", and "Assembling California". There is also another recently published which includes the three mentioned as well as some other articles. Very good geology for the layman, not at all dry, but written from an interesting perspective. Dan Williams, whose feet are firmly planted on the geologically stable craton of Wisconsin, just waitin' for the ice to melt. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Apologies in advance if this is off topic but there are a lot PWers affected by the recent event: I have always found it interesting that some of the most seismically active areas of the world are also the most populated. The Mediterranean, California, Japan, etc. Thinking about it is likely because these areas would have more and better harbors, more mineral resources and always have the most breathtaking views and scenic wonders. Indeed it is the natural beauty that attracts many people to the Pacific Northwest and Alaska as both a place to live and as a vacation destination, including sea kayaker. But beware, the beautiful irregular sea scapes and spectacular mountains got that way because of the powerful geologic forces that formed them. I am a Professional Engineer and most of my life is spent doing seismic analysis and geotechnical investigation and inspections in the Puget Sound area on buildings and other structures and I have my own perspective on this. I have a lot of local geologic reference materials about the Puget Sound area for my work, and I have also spent my school years and much of my life in Southern California as well. There is nothing different about earthquakes in the Puget Sound and Los Angeles areas, both areas are surrounded by mountains, both are along the Pacific "Ring of Fire", both are seismically active. If there is any difference it is just that some of them in PS are deep, but we also get many more destructive shallow earthquakes as well. Also much of the Puget Sound basin can be liquefaction prone, fine grain alluvial outwash saturated with high water tables. These kinds of soils exaggerate the accelerations and are far less predictable. The fact that this recent event did not kill anyone is pure luck. I calculated that if this last event was at 5 miles deep, which is much more common, instead of 30 miles it would have released 36 times (that is 3600 percent!) more destructive energy at the surface. Needless to say there would not have been much of Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia left. All of the older historic unrienforced masonry buildings would have been totally destroyed, since I have inspected many like them I am actually very surprised they are still standing at all even with the deep event. The Puget Sound area routinely has about 40 earthquakes a month, most are small and not noticed or are in remote, unpopulated areas which is actually most of Western Washington (despite what many in the area think, we are not crowed here, we are compacted into only a few high population density areas, but the truth is the whole state of Washington has only about half of the population which live within the city limits of Los Angeles alone, never mind LA county or even the whole LA metro area). I think it is because of this low population over most of the area that many have the false perception there is a much lower earthquake hazard in this area than California, and many have lobbied for, and we now have, much less rigorous seismic codes. And the kind of incredibly stupid and incompetent lawmakers we have around here would probably do the wrong thing even if they understood we had a problem. We currently build to a seismic zone 3 (approx. magnitude 6.5 event), I think we should be building to seismic zone 4 requirements (approx. mag 7.5) as they do in California. Even so most (but not all) Building Officials, architects, engineers, and builders do not know what they are doing anyway so adequate enforcement is another problem. There are usually smaller remote buildings damaged or destroyed by earthquakes in this area about every three years! Since there is almost never injures or deaths, and isolated to the remote areas, people forget and do not perceive this as a real danger. Yet during the recent geologic history of the area there have been over 18 events over mag 5.0, including 4 over 6.5 with two being the very destructive shallow types. One of the largest of these was a near surface event of mag 7.4 that was centered only about 30 miles east of where I am in Arlington (about 60 miles North of Seattle). Needless to say I designed and built my own house to meet a much higher standard than the building codes require. Interesting, despite the property damage, even severe earthquakes in the United States have never caused a lot of deaths, unlike many third world countries. Even so it causes a lot of panic in people, but historically your chances of getting killed in a major seismic event is almost non-existent. What is over 100,000 times more likely to kill you are things you have control over, what you eat, smoke, if you wear your seat belt in your car, wear a helmet on your bike, or do really stupid things in your sea kayak. But if you live in a seismically active area you will almost certainly sooner or later suffer property damage, and at the very least be greatly inconvenienced. Peter *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:20 PDT