2001 Nisqually earthquake

Severe earthquake in Washington, US May 2025 October 2024 2001 Nisqually earthquake File:FEMA - 1433 - Photograph by Kevin Galvin taken on 03-04-2001 in Washington.jpg A large van crushed by bricks in a Seattle parking lot. Washington 2001-02-28 18:54:32 1780664 uw10530748 February 28, 2001 10:54:32 a.m. 6.8 w y 57 km on 47.19 -122.66 region:US-WA_type:event_scale:50000 inline,title NormalIchinose G.A. Thio H.K. Somerville P.G. 2004 Rupture process and near‐source shaking of the 1965 Seattle‐Tacoma and 2001 Nisqually, intraslab earthquakes Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 31 10 n/a 10.1029/2004GL019668 2004GeoRL..3110604I free Pacific Northwest $1–4 billion VIII 0.3 g No 1 dead (heart attack), 400 injured The 2001 Nisqually earthquake occurred at 10:54:32 local time 18:54:32 UTC on February 28, 2001, and lasted nearly a minute.978-1-4930-1322-7 Washington Disasters McNair-Huff Rob & Natalie Rowman & Littlefield 2016 163 The intraslab earthquake had a moment magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The epicenter was in the southern Puget Sound, northeast of Olympia, but the shock was felt in Oregon, British Columbia, eastern Washington, and Idaho. This was the most recent of several large earthquakes that occurred in the Puget Sound region over a 52-year period and caused property damage valued at $1–4 billion. One person died of a heart attack and several hundred were injured. Tectonic setting Geology of the Pacific Northwest Puget Sound faults The Puget Sound area is prone to deep earthquakes due to the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate's subduction under the North American plate at 3.5 to 4.5 cm a year as part of the Cascadia subduction zone. Three types of earthquake are observed in the area: rare megathrust events, such as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake, shallow events within the North American plate and deeper intraslab events within the Juan de Fuca plate as it sinks into the mantle. The third type of earthquake is the one that has led to the greatest amount of damage. Significant intraslab earthquakes occurred in the same general region on April 29, 1965 (magnitude 6.7, depth 59 km mi on), and April 13, 1949 (magnitude 6.7, depth 50 km mi on).Bustin A Hyndman R.D. Lambert A. Ristau J. He J. Dragert H. Vand der Kooij M. 2004 Fault Parameters of the Nisqually Earthquake Determined from Moment Tensor Solutions and the Surface Deformation from GPS and InSAR Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 94 2 363–376 10.1785/0120030073 2004BuSSA..94..363B Earthquake The earthquake was an intraslab event within the Juan de Fuca plate. It was a result of normal faulting within the descending slab, but it has not been possible to determine which of the two possible fault planes indicated by the focal mechanism is correct. Damage thumb|A stretch of Washington State Route 302 near Allyn, Washington, damaged after the earthquake Although there were no directly related deaths, local news outlets reported that there was one death from a heart attack. About 400 people were injured.http://www-scec.usc.edu/news/01news/feature010313.html A Comparison of the February 28, 2001, Nisqually, Washington, and January 17, 1994, Northridge, California Earthquakes Southern California Earthquake Center Most of the property damage occurred very near the epicenter or in unreinforced concrete or masonry buildings, such as those in the First Hill, Pioneer Square, and SoDo neighborhoods of Seattle. The Trinity Parish Church on First Hill was severely damaged.An Account of Preliminary Landslide Damage and Losses Resulting from the February 28, 2001, Nisqually, Washington, Earthquake Highland Lynn M. 2002 United States Geological Survey https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/ofr-03-211/NisquallyFinal.html#overview August 15, 2009 The air traffic control tower at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport was heavily damaged; it has since been replaced with a more earthquake-resistant tower. The quake splintered a buttress under the dome of the capitol building in Olympia, but previous earthquake-resistance work prevented more serious harm to the building.Capitol did 'remarkably well' David Postman March 5, 2001 https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20010305/quakedome05m/capitol-did-remarkably-well The Seattle Times May 16, 2012 Additionally, power outages affected downtown Seattle. Linn Allison Bill Gates speech interrupted by quake Associated Press February 28, 2001 http://www.seattlepi.com/business/gates28ww.shtml March 30, 2007 The U.S. Military's Ft. Lewis and McChord Air Force Base received damage and there was very slight damage in Victoria, British Columbia.Earthquakes Canada – Report (2001-02-28). Accessed January 23, 2009. The Fourth Avenue Bridge in Olympia was severely damaged. In the foreground is a piling for a temporary bridge.|thumb right|thumb|200px|USGS ShakeMap for the event. Following the quake, many buildings and structures in the area were closed temporarily for inspection. This included several bridges, all state offices in Olympia, and Boeing's factories in the Seattle area. Various schools in the state also closed for the day. The Fourth Avenue Bridge in downtown Olympia was heavily damaged and was later torn down and re-built.http://news.theolympian.com/bridge/ The Olympian Fourth Avenue bridge: Bridge over rubbled water July 30, 2008 2002 https://archive.today/20011103232510/http://news.theolympian.com/bridge/ November 3, 2001 September 2, 2001 July 30, 2008 Quake Capsules-Fourth Avenue Bridge http://news.theolympian.com/eqplus6/99210.shtml The Olympian https://archive.today/20011121065212/http://news.theolympian.com/eqplus6/99210.shtml November 21, 2001 In Seattle, the Alaskan Way Viaduct and its seawall were damaged, forcing the viaduct to close for emergency repairs and ultimately factoring into the decision to replace the viaduct with the SR 99 Tunnel and an expanded Alaskan Way on the footprint of the old viaduct.http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/viaductSeawall.htm About the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall WSDOT May 16, 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120829045303/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/viaductSeawall.htm August 29, 2012 The new tunnel is designed to withstand a 9.0 MW earthquake.May 2017 Tunneling into the numbers https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/Media/Default/-NewDocuments/Library/201705_AWVBytheNumbersFolio.pdf Washington State Department of Transportation July 19, 2019 November 4, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201104164804/https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/Media/Default/-NewDocuments/Library/201705_AWVBytheNumbersFolio.pdf Approximately $305 million of insured losses and a total of $2 billion worth of damage was caused in the state of Washington. The area was declared a natural disaster area by president George W. Bush and was therefore able to receive federal recovery assistance. The number of businesses in the heavily affected region was relatively small.Effects of the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake on Small Businesses in Washington State http://peer.berkeley.edu/publications/nisqually/nisquallysmallbusiness.pdf J. Meszaros M. Fiegener 2002 United States Department of Commerce April 1, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20150514045931/http://peer.berkeley.edu/publications/nisqually/nisquallysmallbusiness.pdf May 14, 2015 At least 20% of businesses surrounding the heavily affected area took direct losses, while 2% had direct losses of over $10,000. None of these businesses received money for direct damage from federal aid or insurance. Many businesses did not receive any aid at all. Those that did receive aid had no help with indirect losses. Indirect losses varied from inventory or data corruption, disruption in the workplace, productivity, etc. Data and inventory losses were possibly the most damaging, especially for retail stores. Retail stores lost inventory as well as people's interest for a period of time after the quake. One of the vital elements to prevent damage and injury were well structured buildings. This can prevent the loss of life as well as inventory. Businesses that did not sustain very much damage also gained a sense of security that may be unreliable as the moment magnitude was high but the hypocenter was deep under the earth. This earthquake was a 6.8 moment magnitude that caused $2 billion damage while the Northridge earthquake was a 6.7 moment magnitude, but caused more than $20 billion worth of damage as the hypocenter of the Northridge earthquake was much shallower and closer to the surface of the earth.http://www.emd.wa.gov/about/documents/haz_FinalRWSReport.pdf Resilient Washington State April 1, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140407075838/http://www.emd.wa.gov/about/documents/haz_FinalRWSReport.pdf April 7, 2014 Ground effects Named after the Nisqually Delta, this earthquake hit the southern end of Puget Sound causing damage to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma.Nisqually Basin Bibliography: Science, Resource Management, Land Use, and Public Policy. In the month following the earthquake, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the USGS assembled a team to map the bathymetry of the deltas near the epicenter. This revealed multiple submarine failures on the Puyallup and Duwamish delta fronts. In other areas liquefaction, sand boils, landslides, and soil slumping occurred. Liquefaction was also determined to be a main contributor to increased stream flows. With multiple stream gauges collecting data before and after the earthquake there was a regular pattern of higher increased stream flow around areas where liquefaction occurred.Streamflow response to the Nisqually earthquake D. R. Montgomery H. M. Greenberg D. T. Smith 2003 Earth and Planetary Science Letters 209 1–2 19–28 10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00074-8 2003E&PSL.209...19M Soil liquefaction was also observed at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge causing damage to the buildings within.Earthquake Rattles Nisqually Refuge http://www.fws.gov/pacific/planning/nisqually/nisqupdate6.pdf USFWS 2001 United States Fish and Wildlife Service 5 Response A rapid response plan was developed a year later. The region realized how it had avoided a potentially extremely damaging catastrophe. Many businesses, organizations, and hospitals were asked to sign a regional disaster plan, allowing disaster relief teams to locate and aid places much faster than before. The regional plan would also facilitate directing limited resources to places with greatest immediate need.The Nisqually, Washington, Earthquake of February 28, 2001 https://books.google.com/books?id=W5-B40vrljIC&pg=PA29 P. W. McDonough 2002 Open-File Report 2002-346 American Society of Civil Engineers 28, 29 978-0-7844-7516-4http://your.kingcounty.gov/exec/news/2002/022702.htm On Nisqually Quake anniversary, region set to adopt rapid response pact; County repairs damage April 1, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20120124191856/http://your.kingcounty.gov/exec/news/2002/022702.htm January 24, 2012 See also 2001 Nisqually earthquake Washington (state) Earth sciences List of earthquakes in 2001 List of earthquakes in the United States List of earthquakes in Washington References ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009) http://www.isc.ac.uk/iscgem/index.php ISC 2015 International Seismological Centre Version 2.0 PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog https://earthquake.usgs.gov/static/lfs/data/pager/catalogs/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200313112456/ftp://hazards.cr.usgs.gov/web/data/pager/catalogs/ March 13, 2020 September 4, 2009 United States Geological Survey Version 2008_06.1 M6.8 – Puget Sound region, Washington https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usp000aam8#general_summary United States Geological Survey External links M 6.8 – Puget Sound region, Washington from the USGS 15 years after the Nisqually Earthquake, King County prepares for "the big one" – King County, Washington Special Coverage: Ash Wednesday Quake – Seattle Weekly 1780664 Category:2001 natural disasters in the United States Category:2001 earthquakes 2001 Nisqually Nisqually earthquake Nisqually earthquake