With all the hullabaloo in Olympia, it's easy to forget that Occupy Seattle is fighting a groundwar here at home. Also, that other news is happening. more ›

Seattlest staffers were shaken by the news of an earthquake on the East Coast, which got us thinking about our own preparedness. more ›

The State Department of Health has detected some low-levels of radiation in Washington State from Japan's damaged nuclear reactors, but the level of radioactive iodine that has reached us is "millions of times lower than levels that would be a health concern." Because Japan is a whole Pacific Ocean away, the radiation is so diluted that the Department of Health actually advises against taking protective action, so those of you clamoring to buy potassium iodide (KI) might want to hold off: the Health Department advises that "only people who work in or around nuclear power plants during an emergency, or who live near such a plant and can't get away" should take KI. more ›

After the horrifying footage of last week’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan overtook TVs and computer screens around the world, local media outlets are turning their sights to theoretical natural disasters in our backyards — literally. NBC affiliate King5 produced a segment, which aired last night, that hypothesized the effects of an earthquake and resulting tsunami on the Port of Tacoma and Fife. That’s right: In addition to keeping an eye on Mount Rainier in case it erupts, Tacomans and their neighbors should also be wary of Commencement Bay water flooding the area in as little as 17 minutes. Take a look at the video below, which also emphasizes education and preparedness planning. more ›

Responders are still dealing with the aftermath of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami that battered northeast Japan yesterday. The death toll, already approaching 700, could rise to as many as 1,300 people. However the NY Times says Japan's stringent building codes prevented many more deaths. more ›

We hate to be the bearers of Monday's bad tidings. That's more Garfield's territory. But this is a something you ought to see. more ›

Nothing like a small earthquake to jumpstart the day. This morning shortly after 5:00 a.m., folks living on Whidbey Island were woken up or spilled their coffee, thanks to a 3.7 magnitude earthquake. Reports note the quake was centered two miles south of the Coupeville area, was about 36 miles deep, and did not cause any major damage or injuries, just a few strange looks from a cat. more ›

Over 50 Seattle restaurants, including almost every Italian joint in town, will donate a substantial portion of their proceeds Wednesday ("Big Night for Abruzzo") to a rebuilding effort in the region of central Italy devastated by a major earthquake in April. Some 300 people died, over 60,000 were left homeless; countless medieval buildings were destroyed or severely damaged. more ›

Local researchers and science geeks are totally geeking out right now, as $21.5 billion of the stimulus dollars, dedicated solely to research and development, is now up for grabs. Scientists from across Washington, including the big shots at UW, WSU, Children's, and Fred Hutch have all applied for funding, and will continue to keep their fingers crossed for months until they hear who gets a slice of the stimulus research pie. Signs point in a positive direction, as one local laboratory focused on energy efficiency research was awarded $124 million in stimulus bucks already. The Pacific Northwest is expected to receive some funding (=more jobs), including dollars for biomedical research, volcano monitoring, and earthquake studies. more ›

Some Lynnwood residents may have had a different church-going experience on Easter Sunday, when a 2.5 magnitude "micro" earthquake occurred just before 10 a.m. This was just one of the many "micro" quakes that have been shimmy-shaking throughout Washington this year. Researchers worry that if these "micro" quakes turn into anything bigger, say a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, it would be catastrophic for Seattle and its skyline. If that does happen, we know the Alaskan Way Viaduct is a goner and so would be many of the old high-rise buildings (Hello, Columbia Center), built before new earthquake friendly regulations were enforced in 1994.
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Around 5:25 a.m., an earthquake with a 4.5 magnitude rattled the towns of Puget Sound--including Seattle. According to the UW-based Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, the quake was centered about 2 miles north of Indianola (in the Port Gamble area--here's a topographical map of that specific region), or about 14 miles northwest of Seattle. Locals reported feeling the quake in areas stretching from Puyallup to Snohomish, which is typical for such a shallow quake. There are no major damages reported at this time. We found an interesting graphic from the PNSN which shows all of the quakes in the last two weeks in the Pacific Northwest, and a reassuring statement from the West Coast And Alaska Tsunami Warning Center about this earthquake in particular: "The magnitude is such that a tsunami WILL NOT be generated." Great! Did you feel this one, readers? more ›

What a stable, non-disastrous weekend it's been for us thus far! We're making curried chicken salad, eying the unopened bag of Cheddar Sour Cream Ruffles, and catching up on a week's worth of unwatched YouTube videos. It turns out that when you search for "Seattle" on YouTube, this very helpful National Geographic video about the Nisqually earthquake in '01 (and the fault that runs under downtown Seattle) is the second result. Were you living in Seattle during 2001? Got any stories? Grab some Ruffles and check this out: more ›

Then again, isn't that what they always say? The Washington State Department of Transportation claims that the most recent repairs have stopped the so-called settling of the viaduct. (They call it settling because it sounds much nicer and considerably less alarming than "sinking.") more ›

TODAY IS WORLD REFUGEE DAY! The International Rescue Committee is hosting a benefit night of poetry, music, dance and crafts from our local refugee community at the Seattle Center, and John Hilde's Made In China (a documentary about his father's childhood in pre-WWII China) is screening at the NWFF with proceeds going to Mercy Corps' work in the devastated Sichuan province of China. Be a good neighbor and enjoy these artsy celebrations of diversity and tradition! more ›

Since Seattle isn't criss-crossed with enough fault lines already, the U.S. Geological Survey's new seismic hazard maps include two new fault lines in Western Washington. One of the new faults is located between Bellingham and the Canadian border, and the other runs east of Port Angeles. The study also found that a fault located South of Whidbey Island is longer than previously thought. more ›

The Alaskan Way Viaduct is sketchy. So much so that it was featured in Popular Mechanics' special report "The 10 Pieces of U.S. Infrastructure We Must Fix Now." The Viaduct graces the list, which also includes Atlanta's failing water system, New Orleans' canal locks, Chicago's notorious O'Hare Airport, and the country's oldest suspension-bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge. more ›

Though the Alaskan Way Viaduct continues to sink—or, as the engineers like to call it, "settle"—a section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct has been declared safe. Preliminary results from the semi-annual inspection that closed the viaduct last weekend show that a section of the bridge between Columbia and Yesler St. has settled an additional 3/8th of an inch. The settling is visible in four columns that support the viaduct. more ›

The Alaskan Way Viaduct is closed for its semi-annual inspection this weekend. The viaduct will be closed from 6am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday. The Battery Street Tunnel will be closed all weekend to traffic. The semi-annual inspections check for that settling Dan was talking about earlier this week and the cracks we all pretend aren't there when we speed down the viaduct, fearing for our lives.
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When we used to work at the Starbucks in the Bank of America building (nee: Columbia Center), one of our duties was to bring up boxes of cups, napkins and other sundries from the storeroom located in the garage on level E, five stories below ground. more ›

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt, who has completely covered her house in mosaic tiles. more ›

For those of you just tuning in, yesterday we wrote a little piece about the steam pipe that burst in New York. Apparently it pissed a bunch of people off, and we have to concur that actual true (non-sensationalist) details have been slow to trickle in over here. Everything we've read the last couple of days focuses on a "geyser of steam and debris," which seemed like an overblown fearmongering catchphrase at first, but is now starting to sound like that may be exactly what it is. more ›

We're going to spoil the end of Jonathan Raban's Surveillance. If you haven't read it yet and don't want to know, stop reading now. more ›

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. more ›

It's got AM and FM radio, a flashlight, a siren, multiple phone chargers, hand-crank recharging and a motherfucking earthquake detector! It's from Japan so maybe it detects Japanese earthquakes, but it could still be useful here as a tsunami detector. Either way it's cool. more ›

There have been three nationally televised Seahawk home games this year, and each time our city has been hit with a wicked weather storm. more ›

We checked the tidal charts--nope, nothing crazy there. Any tsunami warnings for last night after that earthquake in Hawaii? Nada on that front as well. more ›

There was a small earthquake at Mt. Rainier, and the question that leaps immediately to mind is whether we will all soon be flash-cooked alive like the residents of Pompeii or something. more ›

People in the Northwest might be more attuned to manifestations of the wrath of God than normal people. Volcanos, fault lines and the deceptively calm sea are all guns pointed at our head and sometimes it seems like the smallest slip-up on our part might activate the muscles in His holy trigger finger. Is this why we're so polite with one another? Smile, and maybe we can escape the cap of God for another day. more ›

Someday the Viaduct is going to collapse and kill a bunch of not-so-unsuspecting Seattleites and maybe a few guys from Everett. Only the elevated highway nymphs and the guy deep in the earth who pulls the earthquake levers knows when, exactly, that will be, but we have a pretty good idea that it will happen "someday." So we busy ourselves fixing it, or, failing that, arguing about how to fix it. more ›

SFist commeters pose for before and aftershocks when the mayor commemorates a 1906 earthquake...at 4:30 in the morning. A hot tip on the Chronicle vending machines comes in and the SFist war correspondent risks life and limb to post this dispatch from the frontlines. more ›