– “Quake experts warn next ‘big one’ could be worse than first thought”
“Experts agree that it’s not a matter of if, but when the Pacific Northwest is rocked by an enormous earthquake, but new information shows that the “big one” could be even bigger and badder than first thought.

Scientists say when the next big one hits, it could be something straight out of your nightmares.

‘Right now, technology is telling us we should be prepared, we should prepare for something like we saw in Japan,’ said Dr. Eddie Bernard, a Tsunami Expert and former NOAA Director.

Like Bernard, University of Washington seismologist Bill Steele said hidden under the Pacific Ocean is a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off.

‘There will be a lot of destruction,’ Steele said.

Because Washington, Oregon and California are sitting against a huge subduction zone, the area could see see an earthquake and tsunami similar to the one that hit Japan last year.

And now new data just collected from Japan’s damaged coastline warns seismologist that the next mega quake to hit the Pacific Northwest could be ever bigger than first thought.

‘It means we’ll probably get a little more shaking the next time there is a great earthquake here,” said John Vidale, a UW professor and the state’s seismologist,'” quoting Michelle Estaban on KOMO TV-4 News in Seattle, posted February 20, 2012.
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UPDATE: June 30, 2012
“Seattle fault can generate bigger earthquakes then previously thought”
By Chillymanjaro in The Watchers.
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– UPDATE: January 14, 2013
“Seattle planners predict bigger flood zones due to climate change”
“The City has unveiled a new map, showing huge areas that are much more likely to end up waterlogged during storms. And it says the estimates are no longer considered extreme,” quoting Bellamy Pailthorp of NPR’s affiliate, KPLU.
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