SDOT employees work together at the Seattle Municipal Tower to respond to a simulated major earthquake event on June 14, 2022. Photo credit: Ching Chan. QUICK LINKS – How You Can Prepare: For additional resources on how you can prepare for a large-scale earthquake or other natural disaster, please visit the Seattle Office of Emergency Management’s website or read more in this blog post.
Overview
Team SDOT recently participated in “Cascadia Rising,” a multi-agency exercise to help prepare for a major earthquake of 9.0 scale. An earthquake of this scale would cause major damage to the region and require a response from all levels of government and the public in the aftermath.
Check out how our team worked this week to prepare, practice our response protocols, and continue to stay ready for this and other types of natural disasters and emergency situations.
Below that, we are sharing resources on how YOU can prepare yourself, your family, and your local community to be more ready and resilient when the “big one” – an earthquake of this massive scale – hits our region.
Team SDOT preparations
On Tuesday, June 14, we participated in a full day of emergency training exercises that included the activation of our Department Operations Center where our team of transportation subject matter experts (aka: Incident Management Team) put to practice the emergency response scenario. Teams throughout SDOT and along with other City departments trained through exercises to ensure clear roles and responsibilities, and how we would coordinate in a real earthquake disaster situation.
Our Communications Team also conducted trainings on publishing real-time public information via the media, our SDOT Blog, our Twitter account, and other channels. You can read our previous Cascadia Rising blog post for additional details. Given that access to electricity and the internet could be impacted by a large-scale earthquake, we expect to use a range of communications methods which could include radio and other media, to reach the public.
But enough about us…here’s how you can prepare!
Preparing for an earthquake or other major natural disaster
The City of Seattle offers resources on how to prepare yourself, your family, your home, and your local neighborhood for a range of potential natural disasters and emergencies, including a large-scale earthquake. Please visit the Seattle Office of Emergency Management’s website for helpful information.
Be Prepared for Disasters video (2 minutes)
Here are links to additional resources online:
Prepare yourself
- Staying safe
- Building a kit
- Enhancing your skills
- Sanitation
- Storing water
- Preparing for people who are deaf and hard of hearing
- Preparing for people with low vision/blind
- Preparing for people with medical needs
- Preparing for people with low mobility
- Preparing for seniors
- Preparing for service animals
Prepare your family
- Building a family plan
- Talking to your kids
- Preparing your pet
Prepare your home
- Controlling utilities
- Earthquake proofing your home
- Retrofitting your home
Prepare your neighborhood
- Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare
- Community Emergency Hubs
As noted above, please continue to visit the Seattle Office of Emergency Management web page for additional information and resources to help you prepare. This includes a printable disaster plan template which you can review and fill in with your family, and a step-by-step guide to being prepared, including earthquake information on page 3.
Other resources to stay informed and get involved
- Sign up for Alert Seattle notifications
- Sign up to volunteer as an emergency communicator and amateur “ham” radio operator via the Seattle Auxiliary Communications Service
Thank you
Thank you for your interest and dedication to prepare for this type of natural disaster in advance, which is a vitally important activity to promote community safety when a disaster strikes. Your efforts are important and appreciated.