A devastating earthquake along the Pacific Coast of the United States is overdue — and when it happens general aviation will play a critical role in both response and recovery efforts.
That’s why, since 2009, general aviation pilots and emergency responders have been holding drills to simulate what they can do to help in the aftermath of a 8.0 plus magnitude earthquake, followed by a tsunami, on the west coast of the country.
Everything learned in those past 11 years of drills will be brought to Thunder Run, a drill planned for June 18, 2022, that involves about 100 general aviation airplanes, emergency coordinators from California to Canada, and pilots, air traffic controllers, ham radio operators, and others practicing what they will do in the immediate aftermath of such an earthquake.
Coordinating these efforts is Sky Terry, Northwest Regional Emergency Services Director of the Emergency Volunteer Air Corps (EVAC) along with additional leadership from the West Coast General Aviation Response Plan (WCGAR).
What It’s All About
The Cascadia Subduction Zone fault is a 621-mile long fault that stretches from Northern Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino, California.
An earthquake along a subduction fault is “pretty much the worst earthquake you can get,” Terry says, explaining that these earthquakes can generate up to a 8 or greater magnitude — but worse — last for three to five minutes or more. The combination of the magnitude and the length of the earthquake is what makes these earthquakes “so unbelievably damaging,” he says.
The geologic record tells us that these kinds of earthquakes happen every 300 to 500 years.
“We know the last one was in 1700 because it hit Japan with a 20-foot tsunami wave,” Terry says. “So now the clock is ticking and, as time progresses, it becomes more likely that within our lifetime, or our children’s lifetime, we are more than likely going to have this earthquake.”
The geologic record also shows that if an earthquake hits on this fault line, it can and has “ripped along the full length of the subduction line,” he continues. “That means it will impact Oregon and Washington and parts of California simultaneously.”
If the worst case scenario occurs, “that means we are going to lose the Cascade Pass highways,” he says. “That means Washington state and Oregon aren’t connected to the United Sates any more. The only way you’re getting anything here is by ship or air.”
And unlike other disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes don’t come with a warning.
“The regular resources, including the military resources, would love to be able to be ‘Johnny on the spot’ and be here by day two, but I think people realize that just by the sheer scale of damage this just isn’t going to happen.”
That means GA will be pivotal in an earthquake’s aftermath.
“We know that normal resources within the devastated areas are going to be tapped out immediately, and we have to be able to get aid in and people out,” he says, noting that recent GA responses to hurricanes and other natural disasters have proven that GA has the “ability to have functionality literally right behind the hurricane after it has passed.”
With the Thunder Run drill on June 18, all the lessons learned from past drills will be put to the test in a massive effort to simulate the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.
“Thunder Run is this massive push in one day to get as close as we can to the real event response style, to see what it’s going to really take for general aviation to step into the breach and buy time for the regular resources to get here,” he says.
A Win Win
One of the additions to the drills came in 2015 from the California Disaster Airlift Response Team (CalDART), which combined disaster drills with food drives.
Donated food is transported by general aviation pilots during the drills to food banks in the surrounding area, which simulates bringing aid to areas impacted by a potential earthquake.
In past drills, pilots delivered sandbags in the middle of historic flooding in Whatcom County in support of the Army Corps Of Engineers, while they delivered masks and other personal protection equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.
But for the 2022 drill, food — lots of food — will be the cargo the general aviation pilots will be delivering.
Non-profit Serena donated $5,000 to EVAC, which was given to the Walla Walla Safeway to buy food. The National Tribal Emergency Management Council donated an additional 25,000 pounds of food that will be land shipped to Walla Walla.
“So we’ll have 30,000 pounds of food coming out of Walla Walla, as it is the out-of-the-impact-area hub,” Terry says, explaining the city is on the other side of the Cascade range, making it the “aircraft barrier just outside the battle zone.”
Besides Walla Walla Regional Airport (KALW), other bases for pilots participating in the drill are Renton Municipal Airport (KRNT) and Bellingham International Airport (KBLI), all in Washington.
According to Terry, most of that 30,000 pounds of food will be flown to food banks around the region, while 3,000 pounds will go to the local food bank in Walla Walla.
There also is a food drive going on at the Fred Meyer grocery store in Bellingham through June 16. Half of the food collected there will go to the Bellingham Food Bank and Miracle Food Network, with the other half being transported during the drill to food banks in other counties. Organizers hope to collect 10,000 pounds of food during this food drive.
Meanwhile, up in Canada, the British Columbia Airlift Emergency Response Operations (BC AERO) will fly another 30,000 pounds of food to KBLI, then pilots participating in the drill will fly that food to food banks along the potentially impacted area of the earthquake.
“All of this will be happening in one day,” Terry says.
Pilots and Planes
On Sunday, June 18, pilots and their airplanes — including Cessna 180s and 185s, Piper Saratogas, Bonanzas, and a Kodiak — will be flying around the Puget Sound region delivering food starting at 7 a.m.
What this will do, Terry explains, is “saturate the airspace to give everyone — the airport, the air traffic controllers, the communication teams at the drop points and pick up points — a full taste of what it’s going to be like” when the big one hits.
“We’re going to find out how many planes really can come in and out of these airports in a day,” he says. “We need to put everything we’ve got in the air to maintain the supply chain.”
The Civil Air Patrol will participate at multiple hubs during the drill, as well as ham radio operators who will help coordinate communications.
They are still looking for pilots who would like to volunteer to participate. If you are interested, you can go the Emergency Volunteer Air Corps website, then go to Events, and click RSVP on Thunder Run. Or you can email Terry directly at [email protected].
Once you RSVP, you’ll watch a PowerPoint orientation about the drill. Then you’ll participate in Zoom calls, as well as receive emails with all the information you need for the day of the drill.
Pilots need a valid certificate, insurance, and at least 250 hours of flight time.
“All they have to do is reach out to me and we’ll put them into play,” Terry says.
The Automated Switch
Part of the training during the drill will be what Terry calls the “automated switch.”
If the earthquake is a 7 magnitude or higher, the first pilot to arrive at an airport is tasked with preflighting the plane and preparing for takeoff, while the second pilot to the airport becomes the spotter. These two are in the air “within five or six hours” of the earthquake, scouting specific routes — known as “red flights” — to assess damage, including collapsed highways and bridges. They’ll report what they see to officials once they return to the airport in Walla Walla, Terry explains.
“That’s important because if the earthquake is a full magnitude 8 plus, which is very likely possible, we’re going to have an immediate gas crisis. We’re going to have to probably have fuel flown in. That will be the quickest way to get it back over the pass and keep the planes running,” he says. “The problem is, to the best of my knowledge, no one in the lower 48 does that on a regular basis.”
“But Alaska and Canada both have cargo hauler aviation commercial operators that fly fuel. For them to come down, we need to identify whether the passes are open or shut and if we’re still connected to the U.S.”
The pilots on those “red flights” are critical in getting first-hand information on “what it’s really like” and assessing the damage in the aftermath of a tragedy of this magnitude, he adds.
“And that’s going to be huge for something that takes out most of the Western seaboard,” he says.
Spread the Word
Many people aren’t aware of the annual drills to prepare for the “big one.”
Even worse, says Terry, is that many pilots “don’t even realize they have a critical role to play — and they can play that role.”
So if you are able to volunteer, they will welcome you with open arms. If you can’t volunteer, please pass information about the drill to your pilot friends.
Think I’ll just start driving east since the hangar doors are jammed or already fallen on top of the plane.
We are honored to participate in this most important mission in Joe Griffith’s Nanchang CJ6 and I’ll do double duty as a photographer documenting this event.
Karyn “SkyQueen” King
It is estimated that a major earthquake along the Cascadia Fault will be in excess of a 9 plus. That will be the largest one that we have seen, and will impact most bridges and overpasses in Western Washington.
I would imagine that many, if not most, of the airports in this area will be damaged as well, with cracked and unusable runways, navaids, etc. I wonder if the drills take this into account.
Including crumbled control towers. (I wish there was a way to edit these posts).
Renton field was one of the only runways available after the Nisqually earthquake back in 2001, which is why it is designated as one of the HUBS. We are also incorporating seaplanes into this years drill so that provides another potential relief option.
If you are in the PNW and want to get involved, send Sky Terry an email at [email protected].
Yes, we take that into account. That is why General Aviation is so important. These planes can land on beaches, roads or grass fields.
That’s a sobering story. Good to know these drills are ongoing, and the food drive is a bonus. But I’m a bit confused about the comment on losing the Cascade Pass roads, whereby WA and OR will no longer be connected to the US. Does this assume Interstate 5 from CA is destroyed too?
The coast highways will probably be impassable with a tsunami and rockslides, including the 101 highway.
Interstate 5 is about 50 miles inland, but a major earthquake may destroy the overpasses, blocking the road in places.
I agree, Jim. We lived in NOR-CAL for 10 years. Always wondered when the “big one” would hit. Let’s hope never, but the odds are it will happen someday.
The west coast has 2 fault zones that will cause a large earthquake;
– the Cascadia subduction zone is due, running from the northern CA coast past OR and WA. this small plate is moving east, under the No. Amer plate.
– the San Andreas runs from San Diego to San Francisco. depending where it breaks will cause a very large EQ..
The Loma Prieta EQ, in ’89, left most of the GA airports usable. GA aircraft flew a large amount of relief. So, I’d expect most OR and WA airports to be usable.
The worst case assumption is that bridges crossing the Columbia River will also be impassable. Rock slides and the collapse of the elevated portions of the Cascade highways will isolate Western Wa from the rest of the U.S.