A massive mudslide occurred near the Stillaguamish River in Oso, Wash. on Saturday in what reports are calling the worst mudslide the state has ever seen.
Local officials are reporting at least 14 dead and 176 missing as of Tuesday.
"Still no signs of life after a night of searching," Travis Hots, fire chief for Snohomish County Fire Protection District 21, said in press briefing in Arlington, Wash. "Fourteen confirmed dead and the number is expected to go up."
John Pennington, director of Snohomish County Emergency Management, said on Tuesday that a 1.1 magnitude earthquake on March 10 may have been the cause of the mudslide, although this hasn't officially been confirmed.
Despite discovering the earthquake on Monday, Pennington told reporters that there was nothing authorities could have done to warn citizens about the impending mudslide. However, The Seattle Times reported that the area around Oso, Wash. was vulnerable to a disaster like Saturday's. In a report filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1999, Snohomish County was noted as having "the potential for a large catastrophic failure."
Rescuers remain focused on searching for survivors in the aftermath of the slide, which reaches 50-feet deep.
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