PIA Western Alliance Cities on Dangerous Fault Lines

We all pay a lot of attention to California and the San Andreas fault line that runs about 800 miles through the state. What most people don’t know is there are fault lines running all up and down the West Coast and inland. Several large PIA Western Alliance state cities sit on those lines.

What people also aren’t aware of — but most of you are — is homeowners insurance not covering earthquake damage. Like flooding, it’s a separate policy.

San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. The City by the Bay sits directly on the San Andreas Fault. So is Los Angeles. Combined over 27 million people live in, and surrounding, the two cities. In 1906 San Francisco was devastated by an earthquake. The 1994 Northridge earthquake did significant damage to the area.

Los Angeles hasn’t had catastrophes of that size but the potential is there.

Seattle, Washington. It lies barely outside the Cascadia Subduction Zone where converging tectonic plates are rubbing against each other. Scientists continue to warn that the zone is due for a major move anytime. It will wreak havoc and undoubtedly spawn tsunamis.

The last big one was in January of 1700. It was somewhere between 8.7 and 9.2 in magnitude. The rip from the quake ran 600 miles from Vancouver Island in Canada through Washington and Oregon and into Northern California.

Plus, Seattle has to contend with new warnings about volcanic activity on Mount Rainier. An eruption close to what happened to Mount St. Helens in 1980 would be catastrophic to the region around Seattle.

Anchorage, Alaska. There the Pacific Plate is pushing under the North American Plate. In 1964 a massive earthquake struck. At 9.2 magnitude, it is the largest, and most destructive, earthquake to hit North America in the history of earthquake recordings.

Portland, Oregon. As the proverbial crow flies, Portland sits just a bit East of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. A high magnitude earthquake will cause major structural damage to Portland and surrounding areas. As with all cities along fault lines, fire is one of the big worries when a big earthquake hits.

Reno, Nevada. What most people don’t know is the state of Nevada having the third most seismic activity in the U.S. The Walker Lane Belt is along the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate and sits close to Reno.

Other cities not in the PIA Western Alliance states are also in potential danger from serious earthquakes. Some will really surprise you. They are:

• Salt Lake City, Utah

• Charleston, South Carolina

• Memphis, Tennessee

• St. Louis, Missouri

• Boston, Massachusetts

• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Experts on earthquakes have urged governments, businesses and those living in these cities to prepare for the worst. Some have and some haven’t.

Source link: AnimalsAroundtheGlobe — https://bit.ly/4ew7kiZ