They are contrasting what they describe as weekly small quakes in Japan with long periods of inactivity in the Pacific Northwest. A significant quake in one city in the region 14 years ago doesn't invalidate the claim that you could spend a significant time in the northwest without feeling a tremor.
Maybe you could, as long as those lifetimes don't happen to contain that one 6.8 event. I don't think the point was to look back several lifetimes from right now, but rather to talk about the overall frequency of earthquakes in recorded history. (Caveat: I know nothing about the seismic history of the Pacific NW, this is just how i read the statement.)
It's certainly not the only earthquake I've felt in the 15 years that I've lived here, just the biggest. Which is definitely different from not feeling a quiver in many lifetimes.
I live north east of Vancouver and have lived my whole life without even a shake. Most of my friends (from all over) have never felt one either. He didn't say "everywhere", just "many places".
I was in Vancouver for that one. I didn't feel a thing. There seemed to be a fairly even mix among my friends depending on where they were. Some felt it quite strongly. Some didn't notice it.
