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What Will Happen When Cascadia Subduction Zone Slips

Noryungi writes: The New Yorker has published a chilling account of what would happen in the case of a major earthquake (roughly magnitude 9.0) inevitably striking the Cascadia subduction. "Under pressure from Juan de Fuca, the stuck edge of North America is bulging upward and compressing eastward, at the rate of, respectively, three to four millimetres and thirty to forty millimetres a year. It can do so for quite some time, because, as continent stuff goes, it is young, made of rock that is still relatively elastic. (Rocks, like us, get stiffer as they age.) But it cannot do so indefinitely." Most of the west coast of the U.S. and Canada is at risk, from Vancouver all the way down to Los Angeles and beyond. Most of the states and cities within this region are woefully under-prepared for a large earthquake. Scientists peg the odds at 1-in-3 for a quake within the next 50 years, and 1-in-10 for a really powerful one.

8 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. Lies by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Geology is a Commie Pinko pseudo-science. God-fearing Kochites know that scientists are evil monsters who must be destroyed!!!! Vote GOP and get a government that knows what to do with scientists.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    1. Re:Lies by rochrist · · Score: 3, Funny

      This is definitely a scam to get those geologists more of that sweet, sweet grant money!! God made the world 5000 years ago, how stressed out can a rock get in such a short time?

  2. I'm sure more by Limitless_Potential · · Score: 2, Funny

    than Juan will be fuca'd

  3. Stiff? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Rocks, like us, get stiffer as they age.

    Are rocks stiff in the morning, too?

    1. Re:Stiff? by DougOtto · · Score: 3, Funny

      That happens less often with age.

      --
      Solving Unix problems since 1989...
  4. Everything will be destroyed by msobkow · · Score: 1, Funny

    Everything will be destroyed or flooded except for Ozzy Osbourne's mansion. Ozzy is immortal. You can't kill him. He's survived more self-abuse than humanly possible. He'll rise above the ashes and throw a concert for the survivors. :P

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
  5. Goldfinger by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was about to comment that I'm pretty sure there was a James Bond movie where this was part of the plot.

    And then I went and started reading the linked article, and the whole article is talking about a guy called Goldfinger.

  6. we must stop this Juan guy by drwho · · Score: 4, Funny

    Who is this Juan de Fuca? How is he applying so much pressure on the United States? He must be stopped. It's not our fault, it's his.