Did you feel it? Give the scientists a hand by letting them know. more ›

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

Will you be ready when the Big One strikes? According to a computer program that FEMA uses to evaluate danger in the event of a disaster, probably not. 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 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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Speculation abounded when Charles posted about a recent study showing what would happen to Seattle if a 9.0 quake hit us. The Space Needle was called out as an icon that wouldn't go down. Seattlest's dad is the resident earthquake-and-volcanoes disaster geologist in the family, so we asked for the truth. We were told to consult the disaster flick 10.5, a made for TV turd movie starring Kim Delany (you know, from CSI: Miami, or Law and Order, or, gasp, the OC!). It opens with an Extreme! urban mountain biker evading the quake (because you know, earthquakes chase people--but he was wearing a helmet, safety first!), and ultimately the Needle. Dad uses this clip as a joking intro to a University of Utah disaster course, where the students model disasters like a 9.0 quake hitting Seattle, or a sudden lahar wiping out Orting (where our in-laws live, har). Check it out for yourself: more ›

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 ›