2020 year of loss
In the year 2020, the United States and many of their sponsored warlords were deeply involved in heated negotiations for land and business rights on the West coast when tragedy struck one Spring afternoon.
May 12th 2020, 1:15 pm PST a magnitude 10.5 Earthquake rocked the Pacific Northwest as the Pacific and Juan De Fuca Plates, better known as the Cascadian subduction zone, slipped. The fault zone which stretches from the cost of Northern California into Vancouver was powerful enough to shake for an astounding 5 minutes before subsiding. Millions were killed as the classic red brick structures of the mid 20th century collapsed. This, however, was just the start. Within minutes of the quake a super tsunami formed, slamming into North America and completely engulfing The cities of Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, then slamming into Hawaii and Japan hours later.
With millions dead or missing and three key cities under several hundred feet of newly claimed Ocean, world markets began to panic and many companies began to flee the Pacific for the much safer and less crowded inland. The quake had nearly destroyed the West and nature was not done. The sudden release of pressure had jolted other faults within the area, forcing them to react in equally cataclysmic ways.
May 14th 2020 11:06pm PST, just days after the great Cascadian event, another more devastating blow was to come late at night while many slept. Both the San Andreas and Hayward Faults slipped within moments of each other. The combined magnitude 7.5 and 8.1 devastated the Bay Area, and caused liquefaction of the artificial Bay Shore, better known as Fisherman’s Wharf. Golden gate park was hit quickly, toppling buildings and allowing the Bay waters to claim several city blocks. Large portions of the Golden Gate bridge buckled under the stress of the two hit combo, and hundreds of miles south in the City of Los Angeles damages to structures was so great the city itself was condemned. When the shaking stopped and the losses counted, over 6 million in addition to the 9 million from the Cascadian event were lost.
The blow these dealt to the world market was total. Trillions of dollars in trade and shipping lost, with the number growing by the billions daily, sent the world into a global depression. Markets crashed and it looked as if the new world establishment of trade alliances would fall from power only 5 years after gaining dominance. However, this just played into the favor of a few warlords and their corporate persona. With the negotiations halted due to the cataclysm many in the U.S government feared the burden of clean up and repair would be left to them, thus bring more financial troubles. However, Ebisu Arashi managed to purchase much of the ruined Bay Area for pennies a mile and began to rebuild the golden city.
In recent times many of the landmarks not destroyed by the event have been left, though allowed to fall into disrepair. The famed island prison, Alcatraz, was demolished and upon its foundations Ebisu erected a replica of the great Himeji castle. Ghirardelli square, a tourist attraction in its time, largely survived though erosion had claimed several acres and structures. For years it was used as a makeshift morgue following the disaster and then later used for storage. Now the great site is in near ruin, primarily used as the focal point for elicit activities from prostitution and drug use to illegal gambling. Though on the front it appears to be another dive owned by street gangs, some speculate that it is still used by Joubu Corporate officials for secret meetings or for the disposal of “loose threads”.
