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INVENTORY OF EXISTING CONDITIONS <br />FIGURE 1-23 <br />SUBDUCTION ZONE <br />Source: U.S. Geological Survey, 2012 <br />The buried interference between these two plates, which extends from off shore to the coastline or farther <br />in some places, comprises the fault zone, which is capable of breaking in one great earthquake, or <br />52 <br />possibly sections as smaller earthquakes. Scientist have modeled the earthquake to reach as high as <br />magnitude 9.0. To put into perspective the significance of a magnitude 9.0, if a magnitude 3.4 earthquake <br />is equal to one grain of sand, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake is equal to 100 million grains of sand. The most <br />th <br />recent event of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake was on March 11 2011 that occurred off the coast of Japan. <br />The CSZ has been building up strain for over 300 years. The chances that an earthquake as large as <br />53 <br />magnitude 9.0 will occur within the next 50 years, are about one in ten. Due to the likelihood and the <br />severity of the earthquake, the State of Oregon has developed the “Cascadia Subduction Zone <br />Catastrophic Earthquake and Tsunami Operation Plan.” <br /> <br />That plan was developed based on a scenario that a catastrophic magnitude 9.0 CSZ earthquake and <br />tsunami could occur. In the scenario, it is assumed that the epicenter is 95 miles west of the city of <br />Eugene. The state of Oregon is categorized in four distinct areas ranging from the degree of damage that <br />would occur as a result of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, one being the highest degree of damage and four <br />being the lowest degree of damage. The Eugene Airport falls in CSZ Area 2. The potential damage in the <br />area as a result of the earthquake would be: power failure for months, access roads and bridges severely <br />damaged, and buildings being heavily damaged or collapsed. The model that was implemented for the <br />scenario looked at the degree of damage the airports in Oregon would experience. As shown in <br /> <br />52 <br /> Cascadia Subduction Zone Catastrophic Earthquake and Tsunami Operation Plan, Oregon 2012 <br />53 <br /> Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup, FEMA 2013 <br />EUGENE AIRPORT MASTER PLAN 1-73 <br /> <br />