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.

Comments

I can tell you what will happen ...

[QuietLagoon]

... the quake will show how stunningly unprepared that region will be for the ensuing catastrophe.

Re:Nobody will notice or care, outside of the regi

[riverat1]

Like no one noticed or cared when the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami hit or the 2001 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear plant hit. When the next Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake hits it will result in thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damage that will take years to recover from.

And don't worry about anthropogenic global warming, you'll be hearing about it for the rest of your life because it's not going away.

Re:Lies

[gstoddart]

Yea, I know you people get off on bashing the creationist ideology, but it's not all ignorance and folly. There are actually some pretty intelligent folk who think about these questions and have come up with reasonable answers for most of them, plus they have some answers for questions you are not asking because you haven't spent the time to think about stuff much.

What you are describing is sophistry, and not science.

Just because people go to extraordinary lengths to justify their religion, doesn't make any of it true.

So step down off the high horse and try and engage, without bashing and name calling... You will likely get further with people if you don't offend them right off the bat.

No. By insisting we engage means we've given in to the position that these silly beliefs have any basis in science, and aren't just some hand waving crap.

Not happening.

If someone truly believes the Earth is 6000 years old, then I'd prefer to get offending them out of the way right off the bat. Because there is no reasoned and intelligent conversation which can ensue.

You're entitled to your own opinions, but you're sure as hell not entitled to your own facts.

Engaging in that level of stupid, because it implies reason, evidence, and logic are in effect.