Book excerpt: Until several years ago, people in the Metro region were comfortable in the knowledge that earthquakes were a problem in California to the South and Washington to the North, but they lived in an area without large earthquakes and did not need to worry. All that has changed. New scientific understanding of the Northwest's geologic setting places the Metro region in a zone with high potential of damage from earthquakes. Should this new information about the region's earthquake hazards be considered when planning for how the region grows? This report answers "yes", and suggests how geologic information can be used to influence the region's land use decisions.