Big One WARNING: West coast of US at risk of HUGE earthquake and DEVASTATING tsunami
THE west coast of America has all the characteristics to see a major earthquake which would spark a powerful and devastating tsunami, researchers have revealed.
By SEAN MARTIN
Express.co.uk
Tue, Nov 21, 2017
The region is just outside Washington State where experts have discovered “very compact sediments” which they say is a sign a huge quake is brewing.
As the land is underwater, such movement could cause tsunamis to threaten the west coast of the US.
The region is known as the Cascadia Subduction zone and is thought to generate a huge quake every 200 to 530 years. The last one arrived in 1700.
Lead author Shuoshuo Han, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG), said: “We observed very compact sediments offshore of Washington and northern Oregon that could support earthquake rupture over a long distance and close to the trench, which increases both earthquake and tsunami hazards.”
The region is just outside Washington State where experts have discovered “very compact sediments” which they say is a sign a huge quake is brewing.
As the land is underwater, such movement could cause tsunamis to threaten the west coast of the US.
The region is known as the Cascadia Subduction zone and is thought to generate a huge quake every 200 to 530 years. The last one arrived in 1700.
Lead author Shuoshuo Han, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG), said: “We observed very compact sediments offshore of Washington and northern Oregon that could support earthquake rupture over a long distance and close to the trench, which increases both earthquake and tsunami hazards.”
Although it is difficult to pinpoint when exactly an earthquake will hit, the team say it offers a valuable insight and could hold clues when the Big One will strike.
Co-author Demian Saffer, a Penn State University professor, said: “The results are consistent with existing constraints on earthquake behaviour, offer an explanation for differences in structural style along the margin, and may provide clues about the propensity for shallow earthquake slip in different regions.”
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