Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek issued an executive order on Monday to ensure new state buildings larger than 10,000-square-feet are built to withstand a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.

It’s unclear how many buildings her executive order would cover or how the additional mandate would be funded. The order also calls for all existing state buildings to be seismically upgraded by 2060.

The so-called “big one ,” an expected 9.0 or larger magnitude earthquake, is expected to devastate parts of the Pacific Northwest and scientists expect it could come at any time in the next 50 years.

The idea of focusing on state buildings is to have an area that could serve as a shelter for people and have a space where state employees can turn into staging and emergency response areas.

Priscilla Fuentes, th

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