New research is warning about an underwater fault that could devastate the West Coast with a major earthquake and tsunami.
Seismologists have issued warnings that the Cascadia Subduction Zone, an offshore fault from British Columbia to Northern California, for decades. But a study published last week in the journal Science Advances has mapped to the fault to the greatest extent yet. And it could produce a 9.0 earthquake, the research shows.
The study, Subducting plate structure and megathrust morphology from deep seismic imaging linked to earthquake rupture segmentation at Cascadia, makes use of 5,500 kilometers of data acquired with a receiver array on a grid spanning more than 900 kilometers along the plate boundary from the northernmost Gorda plate to the northern limit of subduction offshore Vancouver Island.
It shows that the subduction zone is highly complex, and it is divided into four segments that could rupture independently or all at once.
If the Cascadia Subduction Zone is capable of generating a massive earthquake, a magnitude 9 for example, it could cause shaking that lasts about five minutes, generate tsunami waves up to 80 feet tall, and damage well over half-a-million buildings, NBC News reported.
Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
New York Governor Hochul Vows to Tackle Insurance Affordability, Litigation and Fraud 
Door of Swiss Bar Where 40 Died in Fire Was Locked, Says RTS 
Good Times for US P/C Insurers May Not Last; Auto Challenges Ahead 
Wildfires, Storms Fuel 2025 Insured Losses of $108 Billion: Munich Re Report 
