Quote:
Originally Posted by rofina
So the trade off of a completely unpredictable event that may or may not happen during the existence of our civilization takes precedent over superior design that would easily provide for better living spaces and therefore increased quality of life, while we are able to enjoy it.
That's what were collectively saying.
The "what if" is taking precedent. We can agree or disagree if that's a good thing, but that's what's happening.
Also - before we swing the pendulum too far; I'm not advocating an approach that would pretend there is zero seismic risk. Clearly that makes no sense. Although given West Coast history, zero risk is closer to reality.
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You must have an alternate set of seismic data, and read different Geological research scientists from the ones I read.
We're way behind some other west coast cities that have more recent experience of seismic activity, and so have introduced requirements to retro-fit older buildings. We're slowly playing catch-up on critical infrastructure like bridges, and public buildings (including demolishing the 1970s Vancouver City Hall Annex, rather than try to retro-fit it). But there are hundreds of privately owned buildings that will have severe damage, and depending on the strength and type of earthquake, and there could easily be loss of life as well as a huge repair and replacement cost. (Until recently the building code was only designed to prevent the collapse of a building in an earthquake - not to make it useable after the event). And that's only in the past 40 or so years - earlier codes reflected inadequate understanding of the way the plates move in the Pacific Northwest.
There are three types of earthquake that might impact the region, and none have hit the area in the recent past, and all three types could occur at any time. This is all relatively recent science. Until the late 1980s there was no agreement that large (7.5 and above) earthquakes had occurred in the Cascadia zone. The last massive quake wiped out many first nations settlements up and down the coast in 1701. It was in their oral history record, but that was hard to date until Japanese records of the tsunami that hit Japan were matched to the dendrochronology of drowned Western Red Cedars in Washington State.
You only have to look at the damage to Lytton from the fire - the disrupted lives, the lost homes and history and businesses, the replacement of infrastructure. That's a very small settlement - imagine that across the entire Lower Mainland. Now imagine if that sort of damage could be mitigated by intelligent design decisions that avoid having to deal with some of the problems that might arise.
You're obviously right that our civilization could be destroyed by a catastrophic pandemic, or nuclear annihilation, for example, but assuming humanity collectively gets it together to avoid that, damaging seismic activity in the Pacific Northwest is 100% guaranteed, and potentially at any time.
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