Spokane County would turn into disaster resources hub if mega quake erupts

If an earthquake and tsunami decimate the West Side, Eastern Washington would serve as an emergency operations center and an entry point into the state for supplies to respond to the disaster.

“Given the estimated anticipated impacts of the quake, Spokane has already been identified as the site for the reconstitution of state government, including primarily state emergency management,” said Chandra Fox, deputy director of Spokane County Emergency Management.

Fox said the state has agreements in place to use facilities in the Spokane area if a mega earthquake erupts along the Cascade Subduction Zone, a 700-mile fault from British Columbia to Northern California. The quake could hit the region in the coming decades.

Fox said she doesn’t believe the quake will directly affect Spokane County.

“I’m not expecting any ground movement here,” Fox said.

Fairchild Air Force Base would become a hub for incoming and outgoing supplies to respond to the disaster, said Tech Sgt. Michael Brown, a spokesman for the Washington Air National Guard’s 141st Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild.

Brown told The Spokesman-Review earlier this year that the 141st would provide search and rescue support and air resources to determine which roads are blocked with debris, and then clear the roads.

They’d also assist with communications and internet resources, which could be down from the natural disaster, and help manage West Side residents evacuating to the east side of the state.

“It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when, is what’s continuously told to us,” Brown said. It still might not happen in this lifetime, though.

Preparations by the Spokane Air Guard, Spokane County and other local, state and federal officials are ongoing.

Many decisions will be made by elected officials, Fox said. She said an all-day workshop is scheduled in February to discuss the impacts, planning and to help those officials understand the decisions they would be responsible for making.

As a county department leader, Fox said one of her main jobs would be to mitigate the negative impacts to Spokane County that would be caused by the natural disaster’s response and recovery efforts. One of those impacts would be to supply chains for various commodities, like fuel and groceries.

She said coordinating with state law enforcement in the Northwest to manage the increased Interstate 90 traffic bringing resources from the east is another point of preparation. One of the significant unknowns is how many transportation routes would be usable in the immediate aftermath, Fox said.

Fox said she doesn’t expect much traffic coming east from the West Side because those roads, like I-90 on Snoqualmie Pass, will be damaged. She said she believes airlifting people from the disaster area, similar to what happened during Hurricane Katrina, would be needed.

“We are in constant conversation with state and with FEMA Region 10 about what we feel our capability and capacity is for absorbing large amounts of evacuees,” Fox said.