WASHINGTON STATE, USA, FACES SEISMIC RISK FROM A VARIETY OF POTENTIAL EARTHQUAKE SOURCES: THE CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE

Washington State, USA, faces seismic risk from a variety of potential earthquake sources: the Cascadia Subduction Zone offshore, deep slab earthquakes from the subducting plate, and numerous crustal faults throughout the state. Thanks to ongoing research by scientific and engineering partners, there is a good, and ever-growing understanding of the potential impact these earthquakes will cause to the built environment when they occur.

Washington State Emergency Management Division's (WA EMD's) mission is to protect the State's people before, during, and after disasters. With a good understanding of earthquake risk, it is important to evaluate current state building codes, and question whether they are stringent enough to accomplish our mission. Current building codes are designed for life safety, for collapse prevention during earthquakes. However, when it comes to protecting people after an earthquake, we need to consider the importance of protecting critical buildings and infrastructure, like that which can be used for emergency response, medical care, sheltering, etc., and the need for these to be functional quickly following a large event like an earthquake. It is currently unknown what the code standards would need to be, how they should be implemented, and what it would cost. WA EMD will share details on their strategy for moving from a life safety to a functional recovery building code standard in Washington State, to help make the built environment safer from earthquakes.