Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, July 21, 1999, Page 20, Image 20

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Focus
July 21,1999
C o n tin u e d F r o m
P r e v io u s P a g e
other expected problem s from fu­
ture earthquakes. Clark has degrees
in geology and political science and
is DO GA N I’s Earth Science Infor­
mation Officer. “My job is to turn
the scientific research into some­
thing that doesn’t sound like an
engineer wrote it,” she kids Wang.
“It’s sometimes hard to give people
the inform ation they need to get
ready, w ithout scaring them to
death. But it’s all a m atter of con­
text. I lived in the Midwest for a
while and I’ll take our rare earth­
quakes over their yearly tornadoes
any tim e.”
“W hat gives me the most confi­
dence,” says Clark, “is the am ount
of preparation we’ve already made
as a community. Twenty years ago
we didn’t know about the threat of
subduction quakes, and we really
underestim ated the severity of other
earthquakes. So we’ve done a lot in
a fairly short period of time. We’ve
made our building codes stronger,
so that new buildings will be safer,
and we’ve started to institutionalize
inform ation about earthquakes. For
example, there’s now a state law
that says schoolkids m ust have an
earthquake drill every year. In Port­
land, we’re strengthening both our
schools and fire stations. W e’re not
as prepared as we should be, but we
are much, much more prepared than
we were 20 years ago.”
DOGANI has prepared relative
earthquake hazard maps for several
areas of the state, including Port­
land. “T here are three major geo­
logic features that can increase dam­
age from an earthquake,” says Wang.
“Amplification means the destruc­
tive energy of the quake is actually
amplified in some areas with cer­
tain types of soil. T hose soils are
very com mon in Portland and the
W illamette Valley. Liquefaction oc­
curs when the soil starts to flow like
a liquid. W hen that happens, it can
no longer support structures on top
of it and buildings can be seriously
damaged. This happens mostly near
rivers. T he third problem is land­
slides, and after the last few years of
w intertim e slides, people are aware
of what a huge problem that can be
in P ortland.”
T here are many things you can
do to prepare for an earthquake.
“Everybody in Oregon should know
how to duck, cover and hold,” says
W ang firmly. “Kids are taught in
school that if you feel shaking, you
should get under som ething strong,
like a table, and hold on
until it’s over. But adults
need to do that, too. The
worst thing you can do is run out­
side or stand in a doorway,” she
adds, “and th a t’s w hat a lot of us
were taught to do.”
“T he first thing you’re going to
want to know after an earthquake is
how your family and friends are,”
says Clark. An easy way to start pre­
paring is to put together a family
disaster plan. “If your family is like
mine, you spend more time apart
from each other than together. You
can decide as a family where to meet
if you’re separated during a quake or
any other disaster.” You should also
choose someone who lives outside
Oregon for everyone to call and check
in with. “In a disaster situation, you’ll
be able to make long distance phone
calls before you’ll be able to make
local calls,” warns Clark.
Wang suggests you look around
your house and office to see what
might fall and cause injuries. “You
want to look for things like book­
cases that could fall off a wall,” she
suggests. Many places have tips on
how to prepare you and your home
for an earthquake, including the Red
Cross. E arthquake hazard maps can
be purchased from the N ature of
the N orthwest in Portland (800 NE
Oregon St.) and on the internet at
W ang and C lark agree that it’s
im portant not to focus on the dan ­
ger from earthquakes. “My advice
is to take it seriously and do what
you can to prepare,” Wang says.
“Then go out and enjoy life.”
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The Portland Hills fault line runs clear through downtown. Another one within the city is tne
East Bank fault which runs along the east bank of the Willamette River in north Portland.
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