What would you do if you woke up one morning and found the water rushing at your house? Scientists warn that terrible scenario isn’t just a movie plot; it’s a real possibility in three sections of the U.S.
Researchers are warning that a “mega tsunami” could hit towns from Northern California to Washington State and devastate them. Alaska and Hawaii are also in great risk.
What is the danger? Things may get significantly worse if a massive earthquake hit the Cascadia subduction zone, which is a sleeping giant.
What is the place where the Cascadia plates touch?
This fault line goes from Northern Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino in California. It might trigger a big earthquake that would not only make the ground crumble, but also a huge wave event that could destroy entire communities.
A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences sets down the risk: experts from Virginia Tech warn that a quake in this region may force land to sink by up to 6½ feet, which would dramatically expand the amount of coastal floodplains.
“We’ve never measured how much the coastal floodplain grew after a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake,” said Tina Dura, the study’s main author and an assistant professor at Virginia Tech.
“The effects on land use could make the time it takes to recover much longer.”
What scares me the most? Experts say that there is a 15% chance that this fault could cause an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 or higher in the next 50 years.
What could be so horrible about this?
When a landslide, volcanic eruption, or earthquake moves big parts of the Earth’s crust, the water that comes out of the ocean could cause a huge tsunami. The waves here are considerably different from the ones you see at the beach. They can be hundreds of feet tall and move at terrifying speeds, devastating everything in their path.
People are worried about more than just the shaking in the Pacific Northwest. They’re also worried about the aftershocks, the ground sinking, and the possibility of massive waves crashing on shore.
“There is no other place like Cascadia.” Dura added, “Most estuaries have a community in them, and they’re all in the zone of subsidence.”
“I think the subsidence could have a bigger effect than it did in other big earthquakes.”
Alaska and Hawaii are also in the danger zone.
The Daily Mail states that Alaska is growing more vulnerable as glaciers melt. This makes rocks less solid and raises the chance of landslides. Alaska is already notorious for having earthquakes all the time and harsh land.
Hawaii, on the other hand, has a sad history of huge tsunamis that happened when its volcanoes fell. Around 105,000 years ago, a massive piece of land broke off, and a wave that was 1,000 feet high hit Lanai.
But the threat is still there.
Lava flows and unstable ground from Mauna Loa and Kilauea, two of Hawaii’s most active volcanoes, keep moving islands. Kilauea erupted as recently as May 16, which reminded everyone that the volcanoes on the island are still very much active.
The ring of flames is getting hotter.
The “Ring of Fire” is what geologists call all of this. It’s a wide area around the Pacific Ocean where tectonic plates crash into each other. This causes the biggest earthquakes and the worst volcano eruptions in the planet.
When was the last time the Cascadia subduction zone really blew up? The date is January 26, 1700. That means that the area has been waiting too long for another large quake.
What are your options?
You can’t stop a tsunami, but you can prepare for it. Know how to get out of your location in an emergency, stay up to date on alerts, and talk to your family about what to do. Experts may not know when the next big earthquake will come, but they are convinced it will happen.
If you reside near the West Coast, this warning isn’t meant to scare you; it’s a wake-up call.