Tsunami could engulf Seattle in 3 minutes

A tsunami could engulf Seattle within 3 minutes of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, as researchers from Washington State Department of Natural Resources have found. The tsunami’s 42 foot waves would submerge much of the city’s downtown area. 

The predictions come from a computerised model which Seattle’s mayor, Bruce Harrell has praised as a “critical tool” which is “valuable in planning for natural disasters”, as reported by the Daily Mail.

Harrell also recognised, as a member of the city’s administration, his responsibility  to “keep (our) residents safe”. He plans to do this by continuing to ensure that the Office of Emergency Management in Seattle is “equipped to respond to emergencies and natural disasters” and that the city’s infrastructure supports its resilience against such potential threats. 

Although the last earthquake to occur on the Seattle fault, a series of multiple shallow-east west thrust faults on which the city of Seattle sits, was 1,100 years ago, geologic evidence has shown that “five additional earthquakes of an estimates magnitude 6.5 occurred within the Seattle Fault zone during the last 3,500 years.” 

Maximilian Dixon, supervisor for the Washington Emergency Management Division ‘s hazards and outreach programme has recommended that local residents of the city of Seattle, which has a population of 740,000 people, should formulate a plan and “get signed up for tsunami and local alerts”. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.