Another reason not to live in California, but I am glad you were not hurt.
Thank you... I indeed thank Hashem for sparing my home from any lasting damage.
Well EJA44, you yourself are staring a major catastrophe in the face. I know you live in the NW corner of the country and there is a huge probability of a catastrophic volcanic eruption and earthquake which will cause a tsunami right off the coast of Washington state.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zoneTectonic processes active in the Cascadia subduction zone region include accretion, subduction, deep earthquakes, and active volcanism that has included such notable eruptions as Mount Mazama (Crater Lake) about 7,500 years ago, Mount Meager about 2,350 years ago, and Mount St. Helens in 1980.[1] Major cities affected by a disturbance in this subduction zone would include Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Sacramento, California.[2]Earthquake Effects[edit]The Cascadia subduction zone can produce very large earthquakes ("megathrust earthquakes"), magnitude 9.0 or greater, if rupture occurs over its whole area. When the "locked" zone stores up energy for an earthquake, the "transition" zone, although somewhat plastic, can rupture. Great Subduction Zone earthquakes are the largest earthquakes in the world, and can exceed magnitude 9.0. Earthquake magnitude is proportional to area of fault rupture, and the Cascadia Subduction Zone is a very long sloping fault that stretches from mid-Vancouver Island to Northern California. It separates the Juan de Fuca and North American plates. Because of the very large fault area, the Cascadia Subduction Zone could produce a very large earthquake. Thermal and deformation studies indicate that the locked zone is fully locked for 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) downdip from the deformation front. Further downdip, there is a transition from fully locked to aseismic sliding.[6]
In 1999, a group of Continuous Global Positioning System sites registered a brief reversal of motion of approximately 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) over a 50 kilometer by 300 kilometer (about 30 mile by 200 mile) area. The movement was the equivalent of a 6.7 magnitude earthquake.[7] The motion did not trigger an earthquake and was only detectable as silent, non-earthquake seismic signatures.[8]
In 2004, a study conducted by the Geological Society of America analyzed the potential for relative mean sea level rise (cause by subsidence) along the Cascadia subduction zone. It postulated, that cities on the West coast of Vancouver Island (e.g. Tofino and Ucluelet), are at risk for a 1-2m subsidence, relative to mean sea level.[9]
Earthquake timing
The last known great earthquake in the northwest was the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. Geological evidence indicates that great earthquakes may have occurred at least seven times in the last 3,500 years, suggesting a return time of 300 to 600 years. There is also evidence of accompanying tsunamis with every earthquake, and one line of evidence for these earthquakes is tsunami damage, and through Japanese records of tsunamis.[12]
The next rupture of the Cascadia Subduction Zone is anticipated to be capable of causing widespread destruction throughout the Pacific Northwest.[13]
Other similar subduction zones in the world usually have such earthquakes every 100 to 200 years; the longer interval here may indicate unusually large stress buildup and subsequent unusually large earthquake slip.[14]
San Andreas Fault connection[edit]
Studies of past earthquake traces on both the northern San Andreas Fault and the southern Cascadia subduction zone indicate a correlation in time which may be evidence that quakes on the Cascadia subduction zone may have triggered most of the major quakes on the northern San Andreas during at least the past 3,000 years or so. The evidence also shows the rupture direction going from north to south in each of these time-correlated events. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake seems to have been a major exception to this correlation, however, as it was not preceded by a major Cascadia quake.[15]
Forecasts of the next major earthquake[edit]
Prior to the 1980s, scientists thought that the subduction zone just did not generate earthquakes like the other subduction zones around the world, but research by Brian Atwater and Kenji Satake tied together evidence of large tsunami on the Washington coast with documentation of an orphan tsunami in Japan (a tsunami without an associated earthquake). The two pieces of the puzzle were linked, and they then realized that the subduction zone was more hazardous than previously suggested. The feared next major earthquake has some geologists predicting a 10% to 14% probability that the Cascadia Subduction Zone will produce an event of magnitude 9 or higher in the next 50 years;[16] however, the most recent studies suggest that this risk could be as high as 37% for earthquakes of magnitude 8 or higher.[17][18]
Geologists and civil engineers have broadly determined that the Pacific Northwest region is not well prepared for such a colossal earthquake. The tsunami produced may reach heights of approximately 30 meters (100 ft).[19] The earthquake is expected to be similar to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, as the rupture is expected to be as long as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
Topic: I survived the 2014 California 6.0 Earthquake (Read 5668 times)