Earthquake Simulation - Burnside Bridge - Portland, OR

The Burnside Bridge in Portland, Oregon, straddles the Willamette River in one of the world’s most powerful earthquake zones. Oregon sits in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, making it subject to some of the world’s largest earthquakes. Since being identified in the 1980s as an active fault, scientists have documented a long history of earthquakes and tsunamis in the zone, regularly doing catastrophic damage in the region.

In a major earthquake, Portland’s downtown bridges are all expected to suffer moderate to significant damage. If not collapsing, all are expected to at least be rendered unusable, threatening critical emergency response, evacuation and recovery efforts.

Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake Simulation - Burnside Bridge, Portland, OR. This animation shows what could happen to the Burnside Bridge during a magnitude 8+ Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.

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