Latest Updates

VashonBePrepared is celebrating our 5th anniversary by sponsoring two of the state's foremost experts on Vashon's unique earthquake and tsunami risks. Recent scientific reports, a number based on lessons from Japan's devastating Tōhoku...

When you notice a tsunami bearing down on you, you can now pull out your smartphone to learn which way to run! The Tsunami Evacuation NW online portal and iPhone and Android apps will also tell you if you work or live...

Basic Animal Emergency Services Training (BAEST), taught by the American Humane Association, costs $180 per person though CERT Volunteers who register through Catherine Cochrane can get in free! Registration is on a first come, first served basis. The registration deadline is this Friday, March 2nd. Click graphic to the right for details.

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Got a business on Vashon? Here’s what you need to know to avoid disruption after a fire, a storm, a pandemic, or an earthquake. It is courtesy of the Washington State’s Emergency Management Division’s Business Preparedness Website, that includes a ton of additional resources to help your business survive!

Step 1: Develop a Business Continuity Plan to ensure core functions and key personnel are identified and to ensure normal operations are resumed as quickly as possible.

Step 2: Promote...

…sometime in the next 500 years, according to a great blog a couple weeks back by the PSSN’s John Vidale, a regular contributor to their “Seismo Blog” How likely is it to go? Well you’ll have to read his blog that breaks down some of the inputs to evaluating the actual risk factor – which I think he never actually stated…

There’s a whole list of interrelated blogs on this topic which I saw after reading Ben Jervey’s nice post on the subject – which is a commentary of the NY Times post...

Cascadia Subduction Zone Example: the 1700 earthquake that caused shaking and a tsunami that inundated the Oregon coast and reached as far as Japan.

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Two new articles from the Homeland Security Newswire and the Yakima Herald discuss new fault lines (maybe better described as...

According to the inspector general (IG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), state and local fusion centers and emergency operations centers could improve the response of their jurisdictions to terrorism and natural disasters if they talked to each other more often. Many fusion centers and EOCs surveyed do not exchange information.

While Washington State’s fusion center’s near-daily briefing tends toward being a fear based police blotter, extracting news...

KING 5 News reported today a swarm of earthquakes in recent weeks around Mount Rainier: nothing especially exciting, but an alert that it IS an active volcano!

Read the full story here. For the latest view of regional quakes, always visit www.pnsn.org/req2/.

Prepare. Plan. Stay Informed.

 

The first ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System will occur on Nov 9 at 2 pm ET and last for about 3 minutes, according to Damon Penn, of National...

Oregon and Washington are likely to have a very serious earthquake in future decades, according to a disturbing article in the Oregonian.

“Within the next 50 years… Washington and northern Oregon face a 10 to 15 percent probability of an offshore quake powerful enough to kill thousands and launch a tsunami that would level coastal cities. … the Northwest is dangerously unprepared...

Vashon Maury Island Radio Club will celebrate Washington’s Amateur Radio Week on Vashon with our own Field Day. (We’ll actually be over achievers by holding a two day event, on June 24 & 25!)

Events kick off Saturday with breakfast at Sporty's (an hour early at 8:00 AM) with a procession to the venue on Sunrise Ridge where we’ll...

Hundreds of people and a score of emergency agencies will participate in Snohomish County’s largest disaster drill ever. "Shake, Rattle and Roll 2011" will be held Wednesday at Arlington's municipal airport. The scenario is a 7.5 magnitude earthquake along the South Whidbey Fault, which runs through Snohomish County.

Participants include Medical Reserve Corps and community volunteers from Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, Island and Snohomish...

Washington State Emergency Management Association (WSEMA) will hold their annual conference at the Red Lion Hotel in Port Angeles, Washington on September 27-29, 2011. The theme for the 2011 conference is “Preparedness: It’s Not a Mystery”.

If anyone is interested in speaking, the deadline for their call for presentations is 1 Jun: contact Cheryl Bledsoe [Cheryl.Bledsoe (at) clark.wa.gov].

Gauges at the University of Washington lit up for hours after the initial Japanese earthquake, which now has been determined to be the fifth largest earthquake in the world since 1900.

"Unmistakable; any instrument in the world could see this earthquake," said John Vidale, a seismologist at UW.

"You can see there are still continuing magnitude four, five and six earthquakes," he said as he motioned to a monitor on Friday.

Vidale said he wasn't totally surprised by the massive quake -- it happened on one of the most volatile subduction zones in the world.

Local seismologists haven't seen any increased seismic activity on Washington's side of the Pacific Ocean, but Vidale said the event should serve as a reminder that the region is due for a smaller quake.

- http://www.kirotv.com/news/27169289/detail.html

The declaration (noted at www.seattlepi.com/local/433304_emergency12.html) would presumably make affected homeowners and businesses eligible for low cost loans and other assistance.

Does anyone on Vashon know this process and how to best support locals seeking such assistance for this or any future disaster? If so, please contact me as I’m curious about this process.

The WA State Emergency Managers Association annual conference was held this last week and some of the materials from that are now available online for any of us who were unable to make the conference.

Presentation slides and photos from the conference are available at the WSEMA website at www.wsema.org .  See "2010 Conference Presentations" on the left side menu.

The videos embedded in Claire Bonilla's Microsoft presentation were too large to load onto the WSEMA website. For more information,...

FEMA Administrator Fugate Applauds President Obama's Appointment Of Kenneth Murphy As Regional Administrator
Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:00:54 -0500

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate today applauded President Obama's appointment of Kenneth Dean Murphy as FEMA Regional Administrator for Region X, which encompasses Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Camp Murray, Wash. – Washington state will observe Disaster Preparedness Month in April. Disaster Preparedness Month activities will include a statewide earthquake drill between 9:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. on April 21.

“I encourage all citizens to increase their knowledge and awareness of proper safety measures to follow before, during and after a disaster” during Disaster Preparedness Month, said Gov. Chris Gregoire. She added that programs offered by city, county and state emergency management agencies will promote the value of preparedness throughout the state.

A regular monthly test of the Emergency Alert System will initiate the statewide drop, cover and hold earthquake drill. In addition, King County and the cities of Auburn, Kent, Renton and Tukwila will test their Code Red and reverse 9-1-1 notification systems.

As part of the campaign, emergency preparedness information will be sent to schools across Washington. Preparedness information for schools, businesses and homes also will be available...