Geologists can’t say precisely when the Cascadia subduction zone will shake the Pacific Coast, but the consensus is it will happen. Given the area is “overdue” for “The Really Big One,” as a recent story in The New Yorker coined it, there’s a chance it could happen within the lifetimes of residents of the Pacific Northwest now.
What does this mean for residents of Polk County?
Visit Quake is Coming? at the Polk County Itemizer-Observer website to find out!
This article is the first in a series of three stories by Jolene Guzman exploring what would happen locally during and after a predicted 9.0 Cascadia subduction zone earthquake off the Oregon Coast.