This is a little pessimistic.[1] As a percentage, few people are expected to die, and modern buildings are unlikely to collapse. At least in the Puget Sound region, buildings codes have been seismically sound for several decades, and old buildings and infrastructure have gradually been retrofitted[2]. There is _already_ preparation being made with the aforementioned programs, and notably the Cascadia Rising simulation excercise carried out between the Washington and Oregon governments and FEMA.[3]
This will be a huge disaster, but our government and institutions are not apathetic to it.
Does the Pugent Sound have anything like the Tualatin Basin?
Long ago a giant flood from the columbia river gorge filled a large basalt valley with hundreds of feet of clay silt. Today there are many hundreds of thousands of people living and working on top of the clay silt, including the entirety of Nike world headquarters and the majority of Intel's fabs.
When the earthquake hits, the entire basin is predicted to liquify, just like this:
This will be a huge disaster, but our government and institutions are not apathetic to it.
1. https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/how-to-s...
2. https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/Emergency/Plan...
3. https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20210318/emergency-manage... (a 2022 exercise is planned)