Pace Goldy, Watching the footage of the tsunami in Japan, thousands of miles inland, where only the New Madrid fault could fuck us up, this Chicagoan had one thought about Seattle: hope to God I'm not visiting to see a Mariners game when the impending Big One hits.

And it's just a matter of time.

Some stories of past Seattle quakes. . . without Nisqually

And don't forget the Last Big One here, one that is estimated to happen every 300-600 years and happened 311 years ago. Enjoy the beaches that are the legacy of its tsunami. . . one that went and hit Japan with enough severity that their records of it (along with First Nations' oral histories) helped scientists figure out exactly when the earthquake hit the Cascadia region, and how strong it was. The Japanese called it the "Orphan Tsunami" since it hit them without an earthquake there as its obvious source.