Did you know we’re overdue over one hundred years for a huge earthquake? Well, we are, and although I’m kinda terrified by that idea, I’m also really interested in what exactly is going to happen and how.

About a week and a half ago, I came across a page on Facebook that was talking about the “Really Big One”, of course, I’m obsessed with reading this type of stuff even though it scares me. In the post, it gave you a short exercise to do with your hands, that explained what the earthquake would do.

Take your hands and hold them palms down, middle fingertips touching. Let’s say that your right hand is representing the North American tectonic plate, which is the plate that basically holds our entire continent on it’s shoulders. Think of your left hand as the oceanic tectonic plate known as Juan de Fuca. The tips of your middle fingers are where the two plates meet, also known as the Cascadia subduction zone. Now that you know all that information about the plates, slide your left hand under your right one. That is what the Juan de Fuca plate is doing, slowly but surely. When you try it with your hands, your right hand will most likely slide up to your lower left arm. That right there is exactly what the North American plate is not doing, because it is stuck, wedged tightly against the other plate.

Now, without moving your hands, curl the knuckles on your right hand up. They should point toward the ceiling. Under the intense pressure of the Juan de Fuca, the stuck part of the North American plate is bulging up, and compressing eastward. The North American plate is moving at the rate of about thirty to forty millimetres a year. The reason the plate can continuously do this is because the rock is still young, there fore it is more elastic than older rock. The problem is, the rock can’t do this forever. Eventually, the North American plate is going to rebound and jump back. If only the southern part of the Cascadia subduction zone gives, the magnitude of the earthquake will be between 8.0 and 8.6. That’s the “big one”. If the whole zone gives away at once, the magnitude is expected to be between a 8.7 and 9.2. That’s the “really big one.”

Now back to the fingers. Flick your right fingers outward, so your hand flattens back down again. When the next big earthquake strikes, the northwest edge of the continent will drop as much as six feet and rebound thirty to one hundred feet west. This will cause, within minutes, all the elevation and compression it has gained over centuries. A portion of that shift will take place under the ocean, displacing a large amount of sea water. The water will rush into a big hill, then collapse. One side will travel west, towards Japan, and the other side will rush east, towards the Northwest coast. This will happen estimated fifteen minutes after the quake. By the time the quake has finished and the tsunami has happened, it’s estimated that the whole land will be un recognizable.

In the Pacific Northwest, the area impacted will cover forty thousand square miles. After the next full-margin rupture happens, it will be known as the worst natural disaster in North America’s history.

It is predicted that in the Cascadia earthquake, about thirteen thousand people will die. On top of that, another twenty-seven thousand will be injured.

 

Thank you to The New Yorker, and the article. The ideas in this article do not belong to me. To read the article, click here

 

Have a ‘shaken’ day!