Preliminary results from a study related to the subduction of the Juan De Fuca Plate beneath the North American Plate off the coast of Washington and British Columbia indicate that the potential mega-thrust earthquake could strike closer to the Seattle-Tacoma area than previously thought. I believe this project is the same one where I posted their press release about two years ago. According to the article, the average return period for these mega-thrust earthquakes is 400 to 500 years with a range between 300 and 800 and the estimated magnitude of around 9.0. The last mega-thrust earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone was in January of 1700. Previously, scientists predicted the earthquake would be centered just off the coast, they now think it could be 30 miles or more inland, under the Olympic Peninsula to the west of the Seattle-Tacoma area. Source: Physorg.com via Geology.com.
Project Related
Audit: Federal agency failed in oversight of port expansion in Anchorage
The U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General released a scathing audit report on the troubled Port of Anchorage expansion project and the obscure federal agency that was supposed to be overseeing it, the Maritime Administration […]
Geologic Hazards
Impact Test of Modular Rockfall Protection Wall
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Kaikoura New Zealand in 2016 caused over 50 landslides along State Highway 1, north and south of the Town. The team of engineers tasked with reopening the corridor to road and rail traffic […]
Geoarchaeology
Tectonics and Ancient Civilizations
A new study published in the current issue of Geoarchaeology claims that earthquake-prone areas along the edges of tectonic plates were far more likely to give birth to great ancient civilizations than less dynamic landscapes. The author of the paper, Eric Force, a (U of A Wildcat!) says that 13 of 15 ancient civilizations sites aren’t the product of chance. Instead, ancient people appear to have chosen to settle close to a tectonic plate boundary. The exceptions were in ancient China and Egypt. [Image Adapted from Eric R. Force, Geoarchaeology: An International Journal, 23 (2008)]