Emergency Planners Work on Playbooks for the Deadly Big One

In this June 18, 2015, photo provided by the Washington State Army National Guard, airmen from the 242nd Combat Communications Squadron at Fairchild Air Force Base exit and unload a C-17 flown by the 446th Airlift Wing at Gray Army Airfield at Joint Base Lewis-McChord as part of Exercise Evergreen Tremor, a rehearsal of the emergency management and military response in the event of a catastrophic Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. 2nd Lt. Hans Zeiger/Washington State Army National Guard via AP

PORTLAND, Ore.—As military helicopters ferry search and rescue teams over the Pacific Northwest, below them are scenes of devastation from a giant earthquake that could strike the region at any time.

Tsunami waters surge through coastal communities. Buildings, bridges and roads lie in ruins. Fires burn out of control. Survivors are stranded on rooftops, cling to floating debris or are trapped inside wrecked buildings.

Seismologists say a full rupture of a 650-mile-long offshore fault running from Northern California to British Columbia and an ensuing tsunami could come in our lifetimes, and emergency management officials are busy preparing for the worst.

Federal, state and military officials have been working together to draft plans to be followed when the “Big One” happens.

These contingency plans reflect deep anxiety about the potential gravity of the looming disaster: upward of 14,000 people dead in the worst-case scenarios, 30,000 injured, thousands left homeless and the region’s economy setback for years, if not decades.

In this June 19, 2015, photo provided by the Washington State Army National Guard, Senior Master Sgt. Gregory Kassa, left, and Maj. David Stilli, both of the Air National Guard's 194th Wing, confer with a helicopter pilot from the Snohomish County Sheriff's Department at the Mason County Fairgrounds in Shelton, Wash., as part of exercise Evergreen Tremor to prepare for a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. For the past few years emergency officials in the Pacific Northwest have been drafting detailed contingency plans for the day a mega-quake and tsunami hit the region. What planners envision is a massive response that would eclipse the response to any natural disaster so far in U.S. history. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilian experts would be sent into the region, as well as waves of aircraft delivering personnel, emergency supplies and gear. 2nd Lt. Hans Zeiger/Washington State Army National Guard via AP