Earthquake

A study published in late April has finally woken up the mainstream news media to the threat of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a boundary that could reconfigure the physical landscape of the Pacific coast when it next shakes. The Cascadia fault stretches a startling 600(ish) miles from the northern reaches of California through to British Columbia, according to AccuWeather. Quakes in this region go mostly ignored, but only because a monstrous tectonic rupture hasn’t hit for an estimated 300 or more years. When Cascadia awakens, she shakes the West coast with a magnitude-9.0 quake for upwards of five minutes, often sending a tsunami upwards of 100 feet tall toward the shoreline, NBC reported. The latest study points to a new threat posed by the fault. “Along the Washington, Oregon, and northern California coasts, the next great Cascadia subduction zone earthquake could cause up to 2 m [6.5 feet] of sudden coastal subsidence, dramatically raising sea level, expanding floodplains, and increasing the flood risk to local communities,” the authors wrote. Where Is The Risk Area? Major cities in the risk area include Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, but also those to the north and south and eastwards in-land. “This lesser talked about hazard is going to persist for decades or centuries after the earthquake,” co-author Tina Dura told NBC. “The tsunami will come in and wash away and it’s going to have big impacts, don’t get me wrong, but the lasting change of the frequency of flooding … that’s going to have to be dealt with.” (EXCLUSIVE: 20,000,000 Sick Americans Abandoned By Medical ‘Oligarchy’ Controlled By Elites; Can We Fix It?) Fossil records suggest the land-drop during previous Cascadia quakes turned dry ground into tidal mudflats along estuaries throughout the Pacific Northwest. “That’s going to happen again and we’ve built up a lot of those areas,” she added. It’s a good time to remember that the most dangerous earthquake fault on the West Coast is the Cascadia Subduction Zone, not the San Andreas Fault. The Cascadia Subduction Zone is capable of producing a megathrust earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0+ and a resulting tsunami up to… pic.twitter.com/9znJ9Sz4tM — Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) December 5, 2024 When Can We Expect Another Quake? Cascadia last shook in 1700, with previous quakes hitting once every 450-500 years on average. The National Seismic Hazard Model estimates a 15% chance of a magnitude-8.0 or stronger quake within the next 50 years. (RELATED: Joe Pags Launches ‘Unshaken And Unafraid’ With Salem Media Group; WATCH The Epic Premiere Episode) Federal officials, experts, basically anyone who knows about Cascadia believes that when the quake hits, it will likely be the worst natural disaster in the nation’s history, with reports suggesting: 14,000 fatalities* 100,000+ injuries 620,000 buildings collapsed, including 100 hospitals and 2,000 schools There are more than 2,500,000 people living between Portland and Vancouver. We believe these estimates are conservative and only represent those killed by direct impacts from the earthquake and tsunami. “There’s the flood itself and then there’s the basically permanent change to land level at the coast and that has a big impact for what those communities have to plan for,” Pacific Northwest Seismic Network Harold Tobin explained to NBC. “Where are you going to put your school or hospital? Where are you going to build your transportation network? I think it’s important to take the long view.” Long-term Planning Shortened Pain A great failure of the western mindset is our ignorance of time. We eat news in three meals a day, throw out fads faster than seasons change; we replace our politicians rapidly — and this is a good thing, as we all know how power corrupts. But we must reshape our thinking toward the natural world. We do not dominate our physical landscape. We are placed here as shepherds, existing at the will and mercy of our living planet. It would be wonderful if everyone could shut up about “issues like climate change” and instead learn to live in symbiosis with the things God gave us so we can prosper for generations to come. We hope to foster an environment of common sense education around the world and all her processes here at The Modern Memo.