PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – On Tuesday, the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management hosted a training session at its SE Portland headquarters to practice disaster scenarios in preparation for the days following the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.

According to geologists, such an earthquake is expected to occur in the Pacific Northwest; because it occurs approximately every 300 years when tension is released across colliding plates of the Earth’s crust off the coast. The last earthquake occurred 324 years ago and there is a 1 in 3 chance that it will happen again in the next 50 years.

It is stated that the magnitude of the earthquake could reach up to 9.0 and could trigger a tsunami along the coast.

Tuesday’s emergency drill reiterated how things might go just days after the incident, as agencies scramble to get critical information and supplies to people.

The building itself has been specifically designed to withstand earthquakes, with materials that will enable staff to survive independently for up to two weeks following the disaster.

During the so-called ‘IronOR’ exercise, members of the bureau publicized various aspects of the simulated ‘disaster’, announcing damages in various parts of the city and how various agencies responded.

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Participants included Incident Command, Planning (gathering/sharing information, making plans), Logistics (managing supplies, making sure they have what they need), Finance and Human Resources (ensuring regular HR and finance operations occur), and Operations (strategies and tactics, ideas and how the plans will be implemented).

Operations Coordinator Amanda Westervelt said the last time they did an exercise like this was about ten years ago.

“We’ve weathered an important time in our country’s history, the COVID-19 pandemic, and now we’re returning in person to do this type of work,” he told FOX 12 on Tuesday. “Multnomah County, the City of Gresham, Clackamas County, Washington County, and many other cities and counties throughout the State and Oregon are all in operation at the same time.”

For local Public Information Officers like Brandon Zero of the Portland Water Bureau, it was about learning to collect and distribute important information as quickly as possible.

“Nobody would be confused if there was an earthquake,” Zero said. “So how do I make the message as simple as possible, as clear as possible, and what are the most important pieces of information to get to people?”

He said he also realized the importance of building strong relationships with colleagues so that they could work together easily in such a situation.

“There’s a lot of passion and a lot of commitment in the room,” he said. “It’s great to see the level of collaboration we can achieve when everyone is in the same room.”

For the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), it is important to convey information as well as measure the condition of the roads.

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“What is the biggest priority? These emergency routes are what get you to hospitals, fire stations and other critical locations,” said PBOT spokesman Dylan Rivera.

A bigger challenge is learning to communicate in situations where the usual methods are not an option.

“One of the big things that comes up in every exercise is communication. How will we talk? And that depends on the fact that during an earthquake it could disrupt some of our primary communications, so we are implementing our PACE plans, which represent primary alternative conditional and emergency communications methods,” Westervelt said.

“Perhaps we rely on ham radio to send messages to these landmarks, and then from there we rely on word of mouth and people spreading information to their neighbors,” Rivera added.

Participants wanted the public to know how to take care of themselves as they prepare for conditions within their control.

“It’s really scary to think about,” Rivera said. “It helps to think about how you can survive this event, what you will need from day to day, what medical supplies you will need, what nonperishable food you will need to get through the few weeks.”

For more information on how to best prepare yourself for a disaster, visit: publicalerts.org.

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