Major offshore quake could surge inland to Seattle area
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - 20:21
in Earth & Climate
Large megathrust earthquakes occur on average every 550 years on the northern Cascadia subduction zone, where the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate subducts underneath the North American plate off the coast of Washington State. Scientists had thought that major earthquakes were likely to occur only offshore, but a new analysis shows that a giant earthquake could extend deeper along the subduction zone, and thus farther inland.