Welcome to Surviving Cascadia — a resource dedicated to helping communities better understand Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes and tsunamis.
Cascadia megathrust earthquakes are among the most powerful on Earth. When the next one occurs, it is expected to be the most significant disaster the United States has faced. Emergency response systems will be overwhelmed. Individuals, families, and neighborhoods will need to be self-sufficient for at least the first two weeks following the event—and longer for those living along the coast.
My name is Bridget Good. I work as a mitigation program analyst with the Oregon Department of Emergency Management (OEM). Of note, this website is not affiliated with OEM and reflects my personal work and interests.
Preparing to be “two-weeks ready” requires time, effort, and resources. Individuals, families, and communities are more likely to commit to preparedness when they have a clear, realistic understanding of what lies ahead.
The good news is that many excellent, reputable resources about Cascadia already exist. Each fact provided by those sources is like a puzzle piece. Unfortunately, many of those resources—those puzzle pieces—are scattered, making it hard to get a comprehensive view of the finished puzzle.
This website is a collection of puzzle pieces from reputable sources worldwide. By consolidating some of the information here, I aim to provide a reliable resource that reduces the time community members must spend researching what to expect during the next major earthquake and tsunami—so they can spend more time preparing for and Surviving Cascadia.
This puzzle will never be complete. The science continues to advance, and I continue to research, learn, and have collaborative conversations (asking my many, many questions). I also work full-time, have three kiddos and two dogs… so this is a side project I get to when I have a free minute. For those reasons, Surviving Cascadia is a bit of a living document.
Explore the site, and then reach out! Have you learned something new here? Are you involved in Cascadia preparedness or resilience in your community? I’d love to hear what you’re doing, what questions you have, or what you’d like to see covered.
Reach out anytime: survivingcascadia@gmail.com
In my professional role, I regularly engage in earthquake- and tsunami-related research, planning, and exercises, and I attend regional and national events focused on seismic and tsunami risk and resilience.
My day-to-day work centers on helping local jurisdictions manage FEMA hazard mitigation assistance (HMA) grants. I also serve as a backup member of the Business Oregon Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program Review Committee and participate in the USGS’s ShakeAlert Social Science Working Group and its Great Earthquake Social Science Initiative (GESSI). Recently through this role, I was given the opportunity to help draft Oregon’s Tsunami Vertical Evacuation Structure (VES) Guidance (available on OEM’s Tsunami page). Collaborating with federal, state, and local partners on this project made it such an amazing experience.
Following its publication, Stephen Richardson (OEM’s State Hazard Mitigation Officer) and I had the opportunity to sit down with journalists from local news outlets affiliated with ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS, as well as NPR member station OPB, to discuss the guidance and its importance for Oregon’s coastal communities. I’m grateful for conversations like these that help keep resilience and preparedness front of mind.
Through this work, I am continually exposed to new research, evolving guidance, and practical lessons related to the Cascadia Subduction Zone. I am passionate about this topic, and Surviving Cascadia is how I share what I learn with a broader audience. I’m so glad you’re here!
2025 Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center (CRESCENT) Applications and Partnership Workshop in Portland, Oregon 
Cascadia earthquake and tsunami IronOR 24 exercise (iron’s symbol is Fe on the periodic table, and FE is also short for “functional exercise”) 
2025 National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) program manager’s meeting in Anchorage, Alaska 
Oregon Prepared 2025 conference in Sunriver, Oregon 
2026 National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) program manager’s meeting in Seattle, WA 
2026 Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center (CRESCENT) Partnership & Applications Workshop
Links to the Tsunami VES Guidance media interviews:
KEZI 9’s Izzy La Rue (ABC Affiliate) (KEZI Video & YouTube)
Fox 12’s Greg Nibler (Fox Affiliate) (Fox 12 Video and YouTube)
KGW 8’s Joe Raineri (NBC Affiliate) (KGW Video & YouTube)
OPB’s Monica Carrillo-Casas (NPR Affiliate)
KVAL 13’s Sadie Rison (CBS Affiliate) (KCBY 11 article and YouTube and KPIC 4 article)
Surviving Cascadia 