Earthquake Kit for the Pacific Northwest: What Cascadia Changes About Preparedness (2026)

Short answer: A Pacific Northwest earthquake kit is a California kit with the clock turned up. A full Cascadia rupture could cut Seattle, Portland, and the coast off from the rest of the country for weeks, not days, with bridges down, ports damaged, and the grid out region-wide. Oregon and Washington emergency management tell residents to be two weeks ready. The kit is the same categories, at two-week quantity, with a tsunami plan if you are on the coast and a way to make water and power with no grid at all.

Why two weeks, not three days

Cascadia is a subduction zone capable of a magnitude 9. The last full rupture was 1700. Models show damage to hundreds of bridges, both regional airports, and the fuel pipeline that supplies the region, and restoration of services measured in weeks in cities and months in some coastal areas. Help arrives slower and from farther away than in a California quake. The two-week kit guide covers the quantities.

The coast: minutes, not a kit

If you are in a tsunami zone, the kit is secondary to the plan. The wave can arrive 15 to 30 minutes after the shaking. Know the evacuation route to high ground on foot, practice it, and keep a small go-bag with shoes, a headlamp, water, a whistle, and documents by the door. Do not wait for a siren or an alert; the shaking is the alert.

Under the bed, by the door, in the car

• Under the bed: sturdy shoes, a headlamp, a whistle, glasses. Most quakes hit at night and most injuries are glass.
• By the door: the go-bag; see how to build one.
• In the car: the vehicle kit, because the car may be the shelter and the only phone charger.

Water and power with no grid

Mains break in a large quake and stay broken. Store 14 gallons per person where it will not tip, and own a filter for the water heater, rain barrels, and streams. For power, a jump starter charges phones for days and starts the car; a solar power bank refills in the daylight after; a Star Power 600 gives a few hours of Starlink Mini when cell towers are down, which in a Cascadia scenario they will be.

The rest of the kit

• Two weeks of no-cook food and a camp stove used outdoors
• The Ultimate Emergency Survival Kit and 30 days of prescriptions
• A wrench zip-tied to the gas meter, a pry bar, work gloves, tarps, duct tape
• A dry bag of documents and cash; it rains here
• Battery radio, LED flares, a folding shovel

Before it happens

• Strap the water heater and bookcases
• Know your tsunami zone and route
• Agree on an out-of-state contact; local lines will be down
• Practice drop, cover, hold on, and the shoes-first rule

The core earthquake procedure is in the earthquake kit guide; this page is the Northwest addendum.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a Pacific Northwest earthquake kit last?
Two weeks minimum. State emergency managers in Oregon and Washington recommend it because a Cascadia event could isolate the region for weeks.

What is different about a Cascadia earthquake?
It is a magnitude 9-class subduction quake with a tsunami on the coast, region-wide grid and bridge damage, and slow outside help.

What should coastal residents do first?
Get to high ground on foot within minutes of shaking. The kit is secondary to the route.

How do I get power with no grid for weeks?
A jump starter for phones and the car, a solar power bank to refill by day, and a small Starlink pack for a few hours of communication.

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