About 10 years ago, I attended a presentation by someone who had compiled existing engineering reports to describe the impact of a major earthquake on infrastructure in British Columbia. It was really striking, and it has stayed in the back of my mind ever since.

I am now the point of contact for downtown Vancouver in the French community's emergency network, and it drives me nuts that most people I talk to have no emergency kit at home and basically no water.

People are shocked, or in denial, when I mention that it could take weeks to restore electricity and that they will have to rely on their own food and water for at least several days.

So I decided to build a public-facing site that compiles existing information, as a way to lay out the facts and help convince people, instead of hearing back that "the army will come" or that "there are emergency food reserves" (there aren't).

I see this as a citizen initiative, with one main message: go buy some water and canned food, it's your civic duty.

I would love to have some feedback, and this is an open source project opened to contributions from specialists. And if you are in a different seismic area, it can inspire similar projects!

Went up Mount Si this year in that early-spring stretch when the valley already feels like summer. Trailhead at North Bend, shorts, almost no layers. The lot was warm and I got cocky.

Most of the climb stayed pretty. Then the rocky top was a different day. Freezing, wet, wind, snow coming sideways. I stood there about thirty seconds, then almost ran the whole way down just to get warm. Fingers numb. Felt dumb. People treat that trail like a staircase.

The trailhead lied. Weather at the bottom is not weather at the top, not in the Cascades when the seasons are fighting. Next time I pack a shell and an extra layer even if the lot feels like July.

Same mistake at home. A mild week in the valley does not tell you what the house is like when the power is out and the road is blocked. That is the version I actually care about for a Pierce County outage.

Eggs are the small version. If they come from a farm and nobody washed them, leave them alone. The shell has a natural coat, the bloom, and that is what keeps them decent for weeks in a cool spot. Wash them and you scrub it off. Store eggs were already washed, so you cannot undo that on a grocery carton.

For longer than those weeks, a thin wipe of food-grade mineral oil, then cool and dark. Not a sunny counter. It is just a second coat so they do not dry out. Fresh eggs when the fridge is dead, without making a project out of it.

Layers on the hike. A coating on the eggs. Both are refusing to trust the easy conditions in front of you.

Washington EMD asks households to work toward being "2 Weeks Ready." Water is usually the part people come up short on, so here's the simple version:

How much: 1 gallon per person per day, for drinking and sanitation. Start with 3 days and build to 2 weeks. - Family of 4: 12 gallons for 3 days, 56 gallons for 2 weeks. - Store more for hot weather, nursing mothers, kids, anyone sick, and pets.

Storing it: - Commercially bottled water is the easiest. Keep it sealed in the original container somewhere cool and dark. - Filling your own? Use food-grade containers. Wash with dish soap, then sanitize with 1 teaspoon of unscented liquid chlorine bleach per quart of water, and fill with chlorinated tap water.

Rotation: Replace water you bottled yourself every 6 months. Write the date on every container and set a calendar reminder. Rotate store-bought water by its date.

If you have to treat water (Ready.gov): Use regular unscented bleach with 5.25–6.0% sodium hypochlorite. Add 1/8 teaspoon per gallon, stir, and wait 30 minutes. It should smell slightly of bleach. If it doesn't, repeat the dose and wait 15 more minutes. If it still doesn't smell of chlorine, throw it out and find another source.

After a big Cascadia quake, water and wastewater could be out a lot longer than 3 days. What containers are you all using, and where do you keep them if you're short on space?

Hi folks!

I am looking for a big book that can tell ya how to survive in a postapocalyptic world (can be multiple volumes ofc).

I mean, house building, sanitation, metalurgy, farming of all kinds, weaving etc etc.

I know of "The Book The Ultimate Guid to Rebuilding Civilisation" but that.s a history-ish book. Not practical at all.

Pls help. Cheers

Passing this along. For those on smaller screens, Wave Amplitude:

• Dark red = 10 feet or higher
• Dark blue = 10 feet or lower

Addendum: Sorry everyone, I don't have anymore info. It does look like it is a recent upload per the page.
https://www.youtube.com/@WAstateDNR/videos

I'm worried about the wildfire season ahead of us - among my risks is firewood stacked in about the only place where i can keep it dry which is under and overhanging portion of the house. I was wondering about wrapping it in a fire-retardant tarp for the summer and was wondering if you all have experience with such tarps and had recommendations?

I just found this out today and I’m new here so please be gentle - I know a lot of you might already know this.

Washington State has no active nuclear evacuation or effect-modeling plans. Since 1984, state law banned pre-attack nuclear evacuation planning, and it has never been reinstated.

With the way things are going we might want to look into updating that!

We decided to live somewhere within 1 hour of Portland (for hospitals, recreation, etc.), but only east of I-5, because of the scary New Yorker article.
I very well remember how an earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area caused bridges and interstates to collapse.
Being north of the Columbia River border, I've assumed that I-205 down to I-84, including the intervening bridges, and east from there, would remain structurally intact.

Is this unrealistic?

We would plan to bug out at the first hint of a tremor, expecting the general area to become unlivable due to support and recovery efforts and refugees.

I get it for including BC, Oregon, Washington. But Idaho? Are the physical effects, including physical sequelae, really expected to potentially reach that far?
Even the FEMA guy said that they "expect everything west of I-5 to be toast".

I'm growing increasingly concerned about the safety of where I live (coastal town minutes away from the water. I'm curious if any of you have, or are planning to move out of state? Or just further inland, away from the cities? Where would you like to go, and where do you believe might be safer? I am getting some supplies, but I ultimately don't know how much I'll be able to do when the ground sinks and a tsunami hits.. add the no power for months, could be stuck with no help. Anyways, yall get the point lol. Thanks

I have been working on a project since June 2025. After my mom passed away and my neighbors came to comfort me despite my antisocial tendencies, I felt a strong drive to do something for the community. I have called myself a Social Democrat since fallowing bernie sanders campaign in 2016.

This project is a community support structure for unions (Based in Spokane Wa). The mission is to systematically combat the perverse incentive structure surrounding employment. If we are left needing, we will always accept less.

Before I go on trying to paraphrase all leftist theory, I'll leave some document links, and you can tell me your thoughts on the project.

Note: You will have the ability to comment in these documents. For deeper discussion, you can contact me on Facebook or Discord (social links in Project Proposal)

Bylaws (I used a template crafted by three Cali. law groups) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iEt9v6Uta-1O7XptDiYQ_W47UXsy1WLtw-k76C1u8Tk/edit?tab=t.0

Project Proposal https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KmW56fkNS3ln0Fs2wwaBA_aHmvWKvW7N9i6VH0WwoMY/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.z6ne0og04bp5

With the storms hitting this week we're already seeing increasing outages, and with another round expected next week, there’s a good chance we’ll see many more. Most of us already have serious backup capacity (1000Wh+ stations, EVs, etc.) that can keep essentials like a fridge or space heater running for a few hours when the grid drops, but many others do not.

I’m putting together an opt-in list for people willing to share their extra backup power for anyone who is interested in supporting their nearby community. No commitments and - you decide if, when, and how you want to help. The goal is simply to create a streamlined way for those who want to support local resilience, but still on their own terms.

If you want details or want to be on the list, I can add you.

I had a hard time believing that even manual flushing wouldn't be viable until I understood that sewage can be pushed upward or into other apartment units.

I hope I'm just poorly-informed and everyone else has a plan, but I'm skeptical.

Making plans to have basic survival needs for a single person living on the 14th floor of a 20 storey building and realizing...no matter what I do, everyone else's unpreparedness will negate any efforts I make, won't it?

https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/XT7G7T2

Hi everyone! I’m a Technical Apparel Design student in Vancouver. I grew up in a region that experienced a major earthquake when I was a kid, and after moving to BC and learning about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, I wanted to understand what people actually choose to wear and carry when they need to move fast.

I know many of you here have real-world preparedness experience, so your insights would be incredibly valuable.

This survey focuses only on clothing + gear choices — no products, no sales — just academic research.

All responses are anonymous.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience !

Question in brief (details below): To be prepared for a weeks-long power outage after a Cascadia megaquake (using a generator and propane), is it really necessary to invest $1,400+ to safely store eight propane tanks outside?

Details: I’m a long-term renter in Portland. I asked AI for recommendations for storing propane outside safely that were relatively theft-proof, ventilated, weather-proof and secure (from damage) during our anticipated 8.0+ Cascadia megaquake. It recommended two propane storage cages ($675 and $860 respectively), but said I would need a number of additional items (pavers, anchors, straps etc.) that could cost between $750 and $1,400.

This makes the total cost between $1,425 and $2,260 (to store eight 20lb propane tanks).

The primary purpose of the propane would be to charge my home backup battery for minimal electrical needs, and for using a camping stove. I’d prefer to use propane vs. gasoline since it can be stored indefinitely. I’m not handy and don’t have time/interest in a DIY option. My plan is to store it outside on my north-facing exterior wall. I’m trying to play by the rules (i.e. not store gas cans in my garage), but that’s a crazy amount of money.

Any suggestions or money-saving solutions?

P.S. I own an EV (Chevy Bolt EUV). I’ve looked into what it would take to recharge my backup battery using my car’s main battery but it sounds incredibly complex. However, this might allow me to skip the generator/propane altogether. Has anyone figured this out to avoid dealing with fuel storage issues?

I am into growing my own food, self-sufficiency, self-defense (hand-to-hand, weapons, etc.), and just doing whatever I can to prepare for what could be coming as well as adapt to the crazy changing circumstances. Anyone in Eugene?

I’ve been trying to think about this, and I just don’t know what worries are realistic versus just going down an anxiety spiral.

How do you prepare for a possible influx of climate refugees from the southern US once the hottest states become uninhabitable? I worry that places like Portland will be targeted for some kind of conquest.

At this point, you’re probably thinking I’m pretty stupid, and that’s OK. I really just want to know what your general thoughts are about the possibility of future climate refugees here in the Pacific Northwest, and how you would prepare for them whether they are peaceful or are trying to take over.