Scientists warn if a 1,000-ft ‘mega-tsunami’ spurs from an active fault line it could wipe part of America off the map

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Scientists warn if a 1,000-ft ‘mega-tsunami’ spurs from an active fault line it could wipe part of America off the map

Scientists are warning that a 1,000-foot-tall “

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

” could potentially wipe a large chunk of America off the map – if a strong enough

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

hits a specific active fault line over the next 50 years.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and parts of the mainland America’s

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

are at risk if an earthquake erupts along the Cascadia subduction zone, a fault stretching from Northern Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino, California.

A recent study by Virginia Tech geoscientists published in the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

estimates that there’s a 15 percent chance of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake hitting the region within the next 50 years.

That quake, which would potentially flush away cities like Seattle and Portland, Oregon, could also sink coastal land by as much as 6.5 feet, according to the findings.

A ‘mega-tsunami’ could potentially wipe out a large chunk of America if a strong enough earthquake hits a specific active fault line, scientist say. (AFP via Getty Images)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

Seattle (pictured) and Portland, Oregon, are two of the cities that could be wiped off the map if a 1,000-foot tsunami hits. (Getty Images)

In that instance, the mega tsunami’s waves could reach up to 1,000 feet, putting millions of Americans at new risk.

While ordinary tsunamis produce waves standing a few feet tall, mega-tsunamis are characterized by extreme height, with waves often stretching hundreds of feet into the air. Unlike gradual climate-driven events, this potential earthquake would “happen within minutes, leaving no time for adaptation or mitigation,” the scientists warned.

“The expansion of the coastal floodplain following a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake has not been previously quantified, and the impacts to land use could significantly increase the timeline to recovery,”

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Tina Dura, lead author of the study and assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Geosciences.

The new research found the most severe effects would be in southern Washington, northern Oregon and northern California.

Alaska and Hawaii, though further from the fault line, are vulnerable because of their seismic and volcanic profiles.

There also has not been a quake of large seismic magnitude along the Cascadia subduction zone since 1700.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Scientists #warn #1000ft #megatsunami #spurs #active #fault #line #wipe #part #America #map

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up