Coos Bay, Oregon

For the last four years, it’s accurate to say that I have been obsessed with the Cascadia fault line. I stumbled upon this issue in Wikipedia while pregnant with my oldest child – my late night insomnia fueled by boredom and curiosity turned to worry as the years slipped by.  Initially I had hoped to understand the topography of my hometown of Coos Bay, Oregon yet I found so much more.

I was in awe that the quake in 1700 was off the coast of Bandon and Port Orford as that was my old stomping ground. Everything began to make sense though. The marshes, hence the former name of Marshfield, was a direct result of the initial quake in 1700. The ground sank and the water rose. I mean, these marshes are littered everywhere in Coos County.

It all started to make sense… and the worry began to set in after understanding that the impending Juan de Fuca Ridge mega-thrust earthquake (predicted to be in the neighborhood of 9.0 on the Richter scale) has  intervals occurring every 240 years & we have surpassed the 300 year mark.  And now the worry begins.