Respected physicist Michio Kaku is warning that the United States is far overdue for a gigantic natural disaster.
“It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when,” Kaku said to CBS This Morning.
It would start with a terrifying earthquake and following tsunami along the Cascadia fault line in the Pacific Northwest.
“Forget all the Hollywood hype about the San Andreas fault. We’re talking about an earthquake, a 9.0, similar to what devastated northern Japan, which killed over 15,000 people and caused a quarter of a trillion dollars in property damage,” Kaku said.
It has been more than 300 years since the last massive natural disaster. In the next 50 years, Kaku predicts that there is a 1-in-10 chance of one occurring again.
What can be done? Kaku says little.
“Talk to your kids about what to do, how to reassemble, because after Fukushima we had thousands of people that were just left homeless without provisions,” Kaku said.
“In Japan, they practice this. Children know exactly what to do, and there’s an early warning system that we don’t have in Seattle that we do have in Japan,” said Kaku. “There are building codes that are not being enforced. Realize that many buildings are just going to be toppled when this gigantic earthquake, a 9.0, and a tsunami hits the Seattle, Tacoma and Portland area.”
