The Big One is Coming: A Multi-State Readiness Exercise Begins Tuesday

Thousands of people across three states and British Columbia will wake up Tuesday morning and assume there has been a 9.0 earthquake along the Cascade Subduction Zone.

The zone is a 600-mile fault line that stretches from Northern California to British Columbia.

Scientists believe there has been a major quake along it roughly every 500 years.

There's no way of knowing exactly when it will happen but emergency preparedness officials know not enough can be done to make sure people are ready.

Cascadia Rising will be a there-day disaster drill involving 20,000 people from FEMA, the Department of Defense and other federal agencies, along with state and municipal emergency officials, representatives from British Columbia and Native American nations.

The scenario is a 9.0 quake along the Cascade Subduction Zone unleashes massive damage as well as a major tsunami along the coast.

Officials want to find out how well they respond and how well they work together.

More than 8 million people live in the area expected to be affected by such a quake.

Estimates have said more than 1,000 would die from the quake and as more than 10,000 could die in the tsunami.

The drill will try to replicate all sorts of conditions that would have to be dealt with including pulling people from rubble, delivering supplies and other provisions, dealing with mass casualties.

It's expected that a 9.0 quake would destroy many of the bridges in the Portland area, leave power out throughout much of the state, knock out phone service, roads, destroy buildings.

Officials expect the conditions to be similar to what was seen when major quakes hit Japan and Indonesia.

"A 9.0 magnitude Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake would result in significant loss of life, widespread injuries, and major property and critical infrastructure destruction," said Megan Phelan, Assistant City Manager for the City of Lake Oswego. "The Cascadia Rising exercise will help the city better understand local and regional impacts and better prepare for them. While this exercise will help the city improve our response plans, preparing for an emergency is a community effort.

"It is important that individuals and families also take steps to prepare, such as putting together an emergency supply kit and family communications plan."