DOT releases powerful simulation of potential quake

SEATTLE -- It looks like something straight out of Hollywood -- or maybe SimCity -- but Washington State DOT officials say it could be closer to reality than fiction.

The agency released an animation of what they believe might happen were a 7.0 earthquake to strike just 20 miles from Seattle and last 60 seconds. For comparison, the 6.8 Nisqually quake that struck the region in 2001 was 30 miles from Seattle and lasted 45 seconds.

The video shows the seawall would give, power and communications would be cut, partial piers would collapse, pipes would burst, then huge platforms of the viaduct would crash down while fires rage all around it.

The DOT says they did not intend to release the video right now, but a private citizen, who they are not naming, and made a public disclosure request, forcing the video's release.

"We had not intended release to public actually because of two reasons," said Jerry Lenzi with the WSDOT. "It could alarm people and we did not want people to stampede somebody into doing something, although we do know we have to replace the viaduct."

The animation comes amid the heated race for mayor of Seattle, and the video is sparking quite the debate between supporters of Joe Mallahan, who has supported the tunnel, and Mike McGinn, who had voiced opposition to the tunnel.

"Obviously with the timing, you try and draw that conclusion, but it was not our intent," Lenzi said. "Our intent was to comply with the law. When the information was requested, we released it."

We asked them if a similar animation has been done with the proposed tunnel under downtown. They said no, but insist their engineers say a tunnel would move with the ground in the event of a quake and would be far safer.

Aside from the mayor's race, the subject of local earthquakes and the fate of the Alaskan Way Viaduct have been in the news recently.

On Friday, UW researchers said they have evidence the fault line under Seattle is larger than previously thought, capable of producing a 7.0 to 7.5 quake some day.

And over the weekend, Seattle mayor Greg Nickels and Gov. Chris Gregoire, signed an agreement to replace the viaduct with a deep-bore tunnel. The first part of that $4.2 billion plan is already under way.