United States: Due to safety concerns in the event of a significant earthquake in the area, the US Navy has announced the closure of four drydocks in the Seattle area. The service is already having trouble keeping up with the maintenance required on its nuclear-powered attack submarines.

The Navy announced in a statement that submarine docking has been suspended for additional evaluation and upgrades at three nuclear-certified drydocks at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, and one at the Trident Refit Facility in nearby Bangor.

Both the results of recently completed seismic studies and the estimated length of the closure of the affected dry dock were not clarified by officials.

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According to the Navy, the seismic analysis "identified potential issues associated with a submarine's maintenance availability as well as the remote possibility of a large-scale earthquake".

"With this new information, the Navy is taking additional steps to ensure the safety of shipyard workers, sailors, the local community, the environment and submarines," a Navy statement said.

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The Cascadia Subduction Zone, a fault line that extends 700 miles along the coast from Vancouver Island to northern California, lies close to the Pacific Northwest.

According to scientists, the fault has a 37% chance of generating earthquakes with a magnitude of at least 7.1 within the next 50 years and is capable of triggering "megathrust" earthquakes of magnitude up to 9.0 on the Richter scale, as Did it in 1700.

Although the Navy knew it was in a seismically active area when it built the Puget Sound Shipyard, some of its drydocks were not properly prepared for a major earthquake.

For example, it was claimed that one of the slots covered by the suspension order was constructed on "unconsolidated earth and fill", which increased the risk of liquefaction.

The Navy insisted that the closure of the drydock would not affect the country's "strategic deterrence capability", but the decision was made at a time when 36% of US attack submarines were either being maintained or in service. Was waiting to be called.

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Prior to the suspension, the Navy had only 18 drydocks to maintain all of its submarines and aircraft carriers. The Navy reported last year that only 20-30% of submarine maintenance projects had been finished on time over the past ten years.

It would cost about $667 million to upgrade just one suspended drydock at the Puget Sound Shipyard, which is more than 130 years old.