The Cascadia Subduction Zone

(Graphic from oregon.gov)

The San Andreas fault, which is responsible for the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, is less destructive than the Cascadia Subduction zone. The Cascadia has triggered most of the San Andreas' earthquakes in the past 3,000 years (but not in 1906), which will make a future Cascadia/San Andreas combined quake the most destructive natural disaster in American history by far.

A megaquake in the Pacific Northwest could trigger a large earthquake along California’s San Andreas Fault, creating an unprecedented catastrophe up and down the Pacific Coast, a new study has found.

The study suggests that the fearsome Cascadia subduction zone, a fault line running offshore from Northern California to British Columbia that is capable of producing earthquakes of magnitude 9 or higher, has triggered large quakes in San Francisco and elsewhere along the northern part of the San Andreas Fault. In some cases, it’s possible that quakes on the San Andreas followed the first quake within minutes or hours, according to the study, which was published Sept. 29.

For example, researchers found evidence that the last magnitude 9 earthquake in the Cascadia subduction zone — in 1700 and so large that it caused a tsunami in Japan — also produced a major earthquake on the northern San Andreas Fault. That part of the fault extends from the Mendocino Junction offshore of Humboldt County, where it meets the Cascadia, to Hollister (San Benito County). That earthquake could have been as large as the magnitude 7.9 earthquake in 1906 San Francisco, said Jason Patton, a co-author of the study and engineering geologist at the California Department of Conservation.

According to lead author Chris Goldfinger of Oregon State University

We could expect that an earthquake on one of the faults alone would draw down the resources of the whole country to respond to it,” Goldfinger said. “And if they both went off together, then you’ve got potentially San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver all in an emergency situation in a compressed timeframe.”

Mr. Goldfinger said that if he heard that the Cascadia Subduction zone went off, he would immediately leave his home in Palo Alto and head east. This is one expert's advice that we intend to follow.

Klamath Tear-Down: Trust the Cost-Benefit Analysis

(Chronicle map)

California has dire need for both water and electricity. Hydroelectric dams provide both, and do so without producing carbon emissions. One would be hard pressed to find a more beneficial example of human engineering.

At first blush it doesn't make sense that four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River will be torn down.

the largest dam-removal project in U.S. history is expected to begin in California’s far north next year.

The first of four aging dams on the Klamath River, the 250-mile waterway that originates in southern Oregon’s towering Cascades and empties along the rugged Northern California coast, is on track to come down in fall 2023. Two others nearby and one across the state line will follow.

Environmentalists and fishermen are eagerly anticipating the restoration of the Klamath chinook salmon run, which once totalled in the hundreds of thousands but is now 10% of that number. But the principal reason for the tear-down is that the cost of maintaining aging dams exceeds the benefit of electricity generation, and "the dams are not used for irrigation, municipal water or flood control."

The plan to raze the dams is the product of at least 20 years of debate over what to do with the river’s old and increasingly problematic infrastructure.

Owned by power company PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the dams have long needed major upgrades, including fish ladders, which are believed to cost more than the dams’ worth as hydroelectric assets...

Despite the cost-benefit analysis, some residents are reluctant "to surrender any power source and [have] less water available for fighting wildfires." We just have to trust that Warren Buffett's company knows what it's doing, a good bet based on Mr. Buffett's past record of determining value.

Related: in 2018 Stanford University brought together environmental groups and hydropower interests, who are known for their vehement disagreements, to discuss how to generate more electricity while improving the health of rivers. They already can point to some successes.

Depends on Who's Doing the Asking

Fake census form--can you tell? (cleveland.com)

Too intrusive: A New York Federal judge has ruled that the census cannot ask about citizenship: [bold added]

“Secretary Ross’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census—even if it did not violate the Constitution itself—was unlawful for a multitude of independent reasons and must be set aside,” wrote U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, who had presided over a trial about the question last year.

The decision comes as a result of two lawsuits filed by cities, states and left-leaning advocacy groups. The plaintiffs had argued adding the question ignored the Census Bureau’s own research, would lead to a significant undercount and was motivated by discrimination against immigrants.

There's a lot of mind-reading going on here, because there are no direct quotes, audiotapes, or videos of Census officials being "motivated by discrimination against immigrants", but as one who deplores the government's intrusion into our lives I like the ruling. I am in favor of satisfying the Constitutional requirement for a census ("Enumeration") and no more:

The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct,----Article I, Section 2

Not intrusive: the Democratic Governor of Oregon wants officials to visit the home of every newborn:

One of the more ambitious items tucked into Gov. Kate Brown's agenda for 2019 is a home-visitation program for the families of new infants.

All new infants.

Of course, it's for the welfare of the babies and their families.

The census may not ask a question, but Oregon may enter your home. An intrusion is okay if the right people are doing it.

Victory Marches

Tua Tagovailoa celebrating with his parents (AP)

My high school wins awards for its sports programs but its longtime rival, Saint Louis, has left it in the dust as a training academy for top quarterbacks.

2011 graduate Marcus Mariota won the Heisman Trophy at Oregon in 2014. Last weekend he led the Tennessee Titans to their first playoff win in 14 years.

On Monday fellow Crusader [don't let them change your mascot, St. Louis!] alum Tua Tagovailoa came off the bench in the National Championship game to spark a come-from-behind overtime win by Alabama over Georgia. Both quarterbacks were and are effusive in their praise for each other.

If Tennessee upsets heavily favored New England on Saturday, look for Marcus Mariota to regain the headlines from his protege.