COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2019 | 9A
Fault
from A7
Millions of people live
with the knowledge that,
any day, civilization as they
know it could potential-
ly be turned upside down
when the plates along the
Cascadia Subduction Zone
unleash their bottled-up
energy.
The subduction zone is
a 620-mile-long fault line
that stretches from Cana-
da’s northern Vancouver
Island to Cape Mendocino
in California. As the Juan
de Fuca Plate gradually
slips under the much larg-
er North American Plate
and loses its ability to store
mechanical stress, a devas-
tating release of that energy
has the potential to shake
the region with a magni-
tude 9 earthquake.
According to geologists
at Oregon State University
(OSU), there have been at
least 41 major (magnitude
8 or greater) quakes along
the Cascadia Subduction
Zone in the past 10,000
years, making the average
interval between the events
244 years.
Intervals differ depend-
ing on the fault segment,
however. A 2016 analysis
done with the help of re-
searchers at OSU found a
section of the zone in Ore-
gon from Newport to Asto-
ria to rupture an average of
once every 350 years. The
last documented major
earthquake along the sub-
duction zone was 319 years
ago on January 26, 1700.
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“There’s no question
that we’re due for anoth-
er megaquake,” said Steve
Robinson, president of
Cascadia Prepared. “We
know it’s coming. The sci-
ence is clear on that. We
also know that we’re not
ready.”
Cascadia Prepared is a
Eugene-based nonprofit
that has been working to
increase personal, busi-
ness and infrastructure
readiness for the past three
years.
“If the quake happened
tomorrow, it would very
likely be the worst natural
disaster ever to hit North
America,” said Robinson.
By most state and feder-
al estimates, thousands of
Oregonians would likely
die as a direct result of the
quake and even more along
the coastline as it is inun-
dated with sea water. Total
economic losses are esti-
mated by the Oregon Seis-
mic Safety Policy Advisory
Commission (OSSPAC) to
be around $32 billion.
A 13-year study from
OSU concluded in 2012
that there is a 40 percent
chance of a major earth-
quake in the Coos Bay
region during the next 50
years. The earthquake may
approach the intensity of
the Tohoku quake that dev-
astated Japan in March of
2011.
Robinson puts that num-
ber higher, citing an in-
creased frequency of earth-
quakes in the past 5,000 or
so years.
“I think based on those
statistics that we have a 50
percent chance of a quake
in the next 20 years,” he
said.
While Robinson said he
supports individual and
community resilience ef-
forts, Cascadia Prepared’s
primary focus is mitigating
the effects of a major earth-
quake by enhancing critical
infrastructure lifelines.
“Our electrical systems,
our transportation sys-
tems, our liquid fuel deliv-
ery, our communications,
our water and wastewater –
all those things are likely to
be destroyed,” he said. “We
need to get to the point
where we can get those sys-
tems back up in a couple
weeks. But instead of a cou-
ple of weeks, we’re looking
at six months or a year.”
In a 2013 resilience plan,
OSSPAC stated that this in-
frastructure failure would
likely cause most business-
es to move or fail if services
could not be restored with-
in a month, causing de-
cades of economic decline.
“You can be as resilient
as you want personally, but
if the electrical system isn’t
restored for a year or six
months, most of the people
are going to have to move
someplace else because
there won’t be any jobs,”
Robinson said.
Despite the grim fore-
cast, Robinson is trying to
paint the scenario optimis-
tically.
“We have a motto at Cas-
cadia Prepared: ‘We built it
and we can fix it,’” he said.
“It’s not rocket science. It’s
basically developing the
will, the collaboration and
support that’s needed to
make the investment in
shoring up our infrastruc-
ture.”
The nonprofit has de-
veloped “lifeline resilience
teams” which have begun
working with entities tied
to major infrastructure
points to establish risks
specific to each area and
develop readiness plans.
Robinson
recommends
that cities have a compre-
hensive analysis of their in-
frastructure vulnerabilities.
“The ones that are the
most important are the
ones that, if they go down,
make it impossible to fix
the others,” he said.
The geography of Cot-
tage Grove poses a unique
challenge in this regard.
The Coast Fork Willamette
River meanders through
the city, threatening to cut
people west of the river off
should the bridges fall. In a
Cascadia earthquake event,
the city’s water system will
surely break.
With this in mind, the
city is courting the idea
of establishing new reser-
voirs. Currently, Cottage
Grove maintains two res-
ervoirs — and one is likely
not seismically sound. The
city needs redundancies.
Public Works and De-
velopment Director Faye
Stewart thinks more reser-
voirs would be a great as-
set to mitigating an earth-
quake event.
“And it doesn’t have to be
the 9,” he said, referring to
earthquake magnitude. “If
we’re hit with a 4, a 5 or a 6,
we may suffer some pretty
serious damage here. And
being able to have water in
multiple locations can help
buy us time until we get in-
frastructure fixed.”
Construction on one
new reservoir may start on
Sunrise Ridge as soon as
this fall or next spring. An-
other two are early in the
planning stage.
“Down the road, I envi-
sion seeing three new res-
ervoirs in this community,”
said Stewart. “Two of them
on the west side of the riv-
er and we’ll still use the
two existing ones, but we’ll
have a third one on the east
side.”
The redundancy of water
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Sensitive Teeth
Drinking hot tea or biting into an ice cream
sandwich ought to be a pleasant experience, but
that’s not the case for people who suffer from
sensitive teeth.
Experiencing pain when eating hot or cold
foods — or while brushing or fl ossing your teeth
— is a common but potentially serious problem
that a dentist can help you address.
helps to protect the tooth’s root.
Dentin is usually covered by other layers on
the outside of your tooth — enamel above the
gums and cementum below them —that help to
keep the dentin from being exposed.
Sometimes the outer layer of protection that
surrounds the dentin can become damaged or
wear away, which lets temperature changes or
chemicals from food to touch the dentin and work
their way directly to the nerve cells and roots of
the tooth.
Tooth sensitivity shouldn’t be ignored because
it’s usually the symptom of your tooth’s structure
breaking down in some way. A dentist can
uncover the root cause and recommend a solution
to make your life more comfortable and keep your
teeth healthier.
WHAT CAUSES IT?
According to the American Dental Association,
sensitive teeth can be caused by a variety of
conditions. Cavities, or tooth
decay, are among the leading
Treating Sensitive Teeth
causes for sensitive teeth, but it
Sensitive teeth can be treated. The type of treatment will depend on
could also be the result of a more
what is causing the sensitivity. Your dentist may suggest one of a
serious problem.
variety of treatments:
Fractured teeth, gum disease,
Desensitizing toothpaste: This contains compounds that help block
worn fi llings, an exposed tooth
transmission of sensation from the tooth surface to the nerve, and
root and worn tooth enamel
usually requires several applications before the sensitivity is reduced.
are all potential causes for that
Fluoride gel: An in-offi ce technique which strengthens tooth enamel
and reduces the transmission of sensations.
uncomfortable, painful feeling.
A CLOSER LOOK
Where does the pain come
from? It usually has to do with a
problem in the structure of your
tooth.
Deep inside your tooth is a
layer of material called dentin that
A crown, inlay or bonding: These may be used to correct a fl aw or
decay that results in sensitivity.
Surgical gum graft: If gum tissue has been lost from the root, this will
protect the root and reduce sensitivity.
Root canal: If sensitivity is severe and persistent and cannot be
treated by other means, your dentist may recommend this treatment
to eliminate the problem.
— American Dental Association
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