Preparing for the Portland earthquake: A lesson from Taiwan

The old buildings and bridges in the city are not ready

PORTLAND (KOIN) — The strongest earthquake in a quarter-century struck Taiwan early Wednesday morning as commuters were heading to work and school, killing nine people and injuring more than a thousand.

Oregon may be several thousand miles away, but news of earthquakes can leave Portlanders wondering: What if an earthquake happened here? Experts have bad news. Portland, with its old buildings and bridges, is simply not ready.

A dog stolen from a beachside car park has been found dead, and police are searching for the culprit

The Office of Development Services estimates that Portland has more than 1,600 unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. These buildings pose a high risk of collapse during an earthquake due to the materials used in their manufacture.

PSU geology professor Dr. Scott Burns said city buildings and schools are among the most at risk.

“The city knows it, but they have a limited budget so they take care of it a little slower each year,” Burns said. “We have a long way to go in a short period of time.”

Since the 1990s, Portland has been trying to identify buildings at risk. Since then, up to 20% of them have been at least partially updated.

“We have requirements in city code to upgrade unreinforced masonry buildings when certain conditions are met, say a building wants to change its occupancy from office use to retail or office to residential… the seismic retrofit requirements can start then,” Keane Ray said of Portland Office of Development Services.

PPB arrests 17 people and issues 36 drug citations during recent sweep of Central Library

Bridges are another major concern for the city. According to Burns, “If we had a 9.0 [magnitude earthquake]People were not able to move from one side of the river to the other.

Multnomah County said it plans to replace the Burnside Bridge with a bridge that can withstand a major earthquake in a six-year project starting in 2026.

January 26, 2024 marked the 324th anniversary of the recent Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake – a massive 9.0 on the Richter scale earthquake that ranged from Northern California to British Columbia.

School districts in Oregon have the fourth highest rate of chronic absenteeism nationally

As pressure builds between the Juan de Fuca plate and the North American plate, the Oregon Office of Emergency Management said there is a 37% chance of a strong earthquake occurring in the Cascadia subduction zone within the next 50 years.

“With Oregon's current preparedness levels, we can expect to be without services and assistance for at least two weeks, if not longer, when a Cascadia-area earthquake occurs,” the office warns.

Read the City of Portland's list of unreinforced buildings below:

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.koin.com/news/portland/portland-earthquake-vulnerability-risk-04032024/ The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos