Are We Prepared? Assessing Earthquake Risk Reduction in the United States
Opening Statement By The Honorable David Wu
Opening Statement of Ranking Member Wu
Thank you, Chairman Quayle, for calling this very important hearing to assess the state of earthquake risk reduction in the United States. And thank you to our witnesses for being here today. Many of you have travelled a great distance to be here, and I appreciate that.
Our hearts go out to the Japanese people as they continue their work to recover and rebuild from last month’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. The loss of life and property is a stark reminder of the destruction that can be caused by a large-scale earthquake, even in a country like Japan that is on the leading edge in earthquake preparation and mitigation. This tragedy forces us to take stock of our own vulnerabilities.
As an Oregonian, I am particularly concerned with the prospect of a similar disaster occurring in the Pacific Northwest. Off the coast of Oregon, Washington, and Northern California lies the Cascadia Subduction Zone. This fault is currently locked in place, but research shows that the same stress now accumulating has been released as a large earthquake once about every 500 years. The last Cascadia earthquake occurred 300 years ago. It was a magnitude 9.0, the same destructive magnitude that hit Japan last month.
All indications show that we Oregonians can expect another one at any time.
When the next earthquake occurs on our fault, there will be prolonged shaking with the potential to collapse buildings, create landslides, and destroy water, power, and other critical lifelines.
Such an earthquake will also likely trigger a devastating tsunami that could overwhelm the Oregon coast in less than 15 minutes, resulting in thousands of fatalities and billions of dollars in damages.
Unfortunately, this type of disaster scenario is not limited to the Western United States. In fact, more than 75 million Americans across 39 states face significant risk from earthquakes.
The good news is that we have already learned a lot about how to prepare for, mitigate, and respond to a large-scale earthquake. There is a lot of work already underway to help us better understand earthquakes, develop safer building construction standards, and ensure that impacted communities can respond to and recover from earthquakes as quickly as possible.
The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, or NEHRP, has driven us to make significant progress i 0 - Dr. Jack Hayes 0 - Mr. Jim Mullen 0 - Mr. Chris Poland 0 - Dr. Vicki McConnellWitnesses
Panel
Director, National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) National Institute of Standards and Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology
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Director, Washington State Emergency Management Division President, National Emergency Management Association President, National Emergency Management Associati
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Chairman and CEO, Degenkolb Engineers Chairman, NEHRP Advisory Committee Chairman, NEHRP Advisory Committee
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Oregon State Geologist and Director Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries
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