Within the next 50 years, they say, Washington and northern Oregon face a 10 to 15 percent probability of an offshore quake powerful enough to kill thousands and launch a tsunami that would level coastal cities.
Wow. Ten to fifteen percent. And that's just the estimate. It might be much higher - or it might be much lower. Excuse me for not buying my hillside grave-site just yet. My odds of winning millions in a lottery are higher than that - and I don't even buy tickets. Misprints happen.
People will do anything to make some cash, and fear helps sell stuff.
In today's media age, I could fart a cloud of white smoke and declare that God has just made George W. Bush the Pope, and a depressing number of people would believe the reports.