A3
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019
Pacifi c Northwest had fewer quakes this last decade
Researcher sees an
‘ominous quiet’
By TOM BANSE
Northwest News Network
Most people in the
Pacifi c Northwest know it
is earthquake country.
A new analysis pub-
lished this week, however,
notes that major quakes in
the region have gone on a
puzzling hiatus over the
last decade.
Steve Malone, the f or-
mer Pacifi c Northwest
Seismic Network direc-
tor, analyzed the number of
earthquakes over the past
fi ve decades in Washing-
ton state and Oregon. He
noticed an unmistakable
drop in quakes greater than
magnitude 4 in the most
recent decade — 2009 to
present — compared to all
the prior ones.
“The largest event in
the past decade was also
smaller than the larg-
est event in any previous
decade,” Malone wrote
in the journal Seismolog-
ical Research Letters. “It
seems inescapable that
strong seismicity has taken
a break.”
Oregon and Washington
state together experienced
15 to 17 earthquakes with
magnitudes above 4.0 per
decade between 1969 and
1999.
Tom Banse/Northwest News Network
The joke around the Pacifi c Northwest Seismic Network offi ce is that recently
departed director John Vidale, left, did a good job suppressing earthquakes
for the past decade.
‘JUST BECAUSE IT’S BEEN
QUIET NOW DOESN’T MEAN WE
SHOULD BE WORRIED THAT
SOMEHOW SOMETHING IS
ABOUT TO BE UNLEASHED.…
WE WANT TO BE VIGILANT.’
Harold Tobin, the director of the Northwest seismometer
network based at the University of Washington
The next decade, 1999-
2009, the number of bigger
quakes dropped to 11 and
then during the most recent
decade it tailed off to eight.
Malone re-ran his analysis
using the much larger cat-
alog of all quakes above
magnitude 2 and noted that
the abundance of low-level
temblors hewed closer to a
consistent level.
Malone did not have a
neat explanation for what
the cause for a region wide
earthquake lull might be.
But seismologists are com-
ing around to accepting
AP Photo/Elaine Thomposon
Bricks that fell from an earthquake cover parked cars in Seattle’s Pioneer Square
district in 2001.
there are non random cycles
of earthquakes, said Har-
old Tobin, the director of
the Northwest seismometer
network based at the Uni-
versity of Washington.
“The essential question
is, does that mean we’re
in a quiet period now and
what was before that was
normal?” Tobin said . “Or
have we returned to normal
after a decade or so of an
unusually large numbers of
earthquakes?”
Tobin said the length of
time for which good records
exist is not long enough,
geologically speaking, to
determine what is normal.
Malone’s analysis was
published online Wednes-
day under the catchy title,
volcanically-active Mount
St. Helens.
In the absence of cer-
tainty about the nature and
extent of an earthquake lull,
Tobin said the best thing
Northwest residents can do
is just be prepared.
“Just because it’s been
quiet now doesn’t mean we
should be worried that some-
how something is about to
be unleashed,” Tobin said.
“But on the other hand, I
want to say that since it has
been quiet people might be
a little complacent. They
should remember that the
Pacifi c Northwest has earth-
quakes and has earthquakes
that sometimes cause some
damage. We want to be
vigilant.”
“An Ominous Quiet in the
Pacifi c Northwest.”
The analysis covers
crustal earthquakes on land
and in the nearshore of the
Pacifi c Northwest region. It
does not address the feared
Cascadia S ubduction Z one
megaquake, aka “The Big
One,” which reoccurs at
long intervals. The last rup-
ture of the offshore Casca-
dia fault happened in the
year 1700.
Malone also excluded
from his primary analysis
quakes in a narrow band
of southern Oregon bor-
dering California because
they tie into different geo-
logic basins from the
Pacifi c Northwest. He also
excluded all quakes under
Oregon, Washington lawmakers consider plastic bag bans
Measures could
replace local
ordinances
By CASSANDRA
PROFITA
Oregon Public
Broadcasting
Lawmakers in Oregon
and Washington state are
considering bills that would
ban single-use plastic bags
statewide to reduce plastic
pollution.
Right now, bills in both
states would prohibit retail-
ers from giving out sin-
gle-use plastic check out
bags and require them to
charge a 10-cent fee on
paper bags.
Washington lawmakers
have already passed two
versions of the bill out of
committee. Oregon’s House
Committee on Energy and
Environment took up the
bill on Tuesday.
S tatewide laws could
replace local ordinances
that also ban plastic bags.
Shawn Miller, with the
Northwest Grocery Associ-
ation, said his group wants
to avoid a patchwork of
confl icting local restrictions
with 16 local governments
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ASTORIAN
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AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery chain, will phase out the
use of plastic bags in its stores by 2025.
in Oregon already having
passed plastic bag bans and
more considering the idea.
“It is time to go ahead
and adopt a statewide sys-
tem that is consistent,”
Miller told lawmakers. “It
just takes one small change
in one of the local govern-
ments to cause us a lot of
problems just from a busi-
ness standpoint.”
Miller said his group
only supports the bill as
long as it includes a fee
on paper bags to cover the
extra cost to grocers.
But that fee is a deal-
breaker for opponents with
the Northwest Pulp and
Paper Association, who
make paper bags.
“Portland was the fi rst
city to pass a plastic bag ban
10 years ago,” lobbyist Paul
Cosgrove told lawmakers.
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“It didn’t include a fee on
paper, and it still does not
have a fee on paper, and it’s
been operating well in big
stores and little stores for
that 10-year period.”
State Rep. Janeen Soll-
man, D-Hillsboro, a bill
co-sponsor, said paper bag
use in Portland increased by
nearly 491 percent after the
city banned plastic bags.
She and other support-
ers say the fee will encour-
age people to bring reusable
bags while dramatically
reducing the amount of
plastic polluting waterways,
harming wildlife and clog-
Clatsop Post 12
STUFFED
GREEN PEPPER
DINNER
bags but we want peo-
ple to change their behav-
ior,” Sollman said. “Plastics
are wreaking havoc on our
environment, on our land
and in our waterways.”
ging up machinery in recy-
cling facilities when people
mistakenly put plastic bags
in their recycling bins.
“We are going to see
an increase in our paper
5 Annual
Clatsop Post 12
th
Salvage Chief
Reunion Fundraiser
FEBRUARY
23 RD
Open House
10am - 2pm
Tours and capabilities information, Ship Tour,
Q&A concerning Oregon SB678
Location: End of Liberty Lane past the MERTS
Campus on the Dock
Lunch
At Clatsop Post 12
11am - 2pm
Cheesteak Sandwhich or
Ham, Bacon & Cheese Grinder
4 pm until gone
$
8.00
6PM
“Karaoke Dave”
ASTORIA
AMERICAN LEGION
Clatsop Post 12
1132 Exchange Street
325-5771
$1 each or 6/$5
Drawing held @ Reunion
Purchase tickets 12pm-7pm
starting Wed. Feb. 20th @ Clatsop Post 12
All Donations are Tax Debatable
Movies, Sea Stories, & Memorial Service
4 - 7pm
or ‘till gone
Dinner
Prime Rib w/ HR & Aus Jus,
Cheese stuffed potatoes or
Chicken Lasagna & Pumpkin Pie
1 Bowl of Clam Chowder & Roll
ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION
1132 Exchange Street
325-5771
P U B L I C
SCHEDULE
A - Charter Astoria/ Seaside - L - Charter Long Beach
15
Prize Raffle
Program
Friday
Feb. 22 nd
$
20
$ 6
$
Music by
Greg Parke
W E L C O M E
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