If and when a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake hits the Portland region, soil liquefaction could dramatically worsen the damage, leading buildings to tilt, roads to buckle and utility lines to rupture.

Especially susceptible are sandy and silty soils – like those by the Willamette River where aging tanks store fuels including gasoline, diesel and biofuel. Intense shaking during an earthquake could cause those soils to behave more like a liquid than a solid, leading the tanks to crack, collapse, spill and explode.

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