The first day of the Cascadia Rising disaster simulation was a helpful exercise for Jefferson County first-responders but was not at all realistic.
“We call this 'fairy dust,' ” said Bob Hamlin, Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management director.
“There is no way we would be able to do all this on the first day. It's just not possible.”
During the drill, local and state agencies — as well as many residents— are practicing how to respond to a 9.0-magnitude quake.
The exercise taking place through Friday in coastal communities throughout Washington, Oregon and British Columbia simulates a subduction-zone temblor off the Washington and Oregon coast, where the Juan de Fuca plate collides and wedges under the North American plate.
Geologists believe major earthquakes occur along the Cascadia Subduction Zone about once every 500 years, the last of which happened in January 1700.