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U.S. Coastal Communities On Edge Over Looming Tsunami Threat — Are You At Risk?
Experts are warning that a “mega-tsunami” might wipe out three regions of the nation.
For the first time in almost 300 years, a massive 8.0 magnitude earthquake may soon strike portions of the United States, with the potential for 1,000-foot-tall waves that may completely destroy neighbourhoods and make them “uninhabitable.”
Virginia Tech made the concerning discovery, and last month the work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The 600-mile convergent plate boundary that runs from northern California to southern British Columbia is known as the Cascadia subduction zone, and according to researchers, an earthquake might occur there.
Alaska, Hawaii, and the US mainland’s west coast—the latter of which was only recently informed of the new warning—have now been identified as the three regions that fall within the danger zone.
Because of its topography and seismic activity, Alaska has long been regarded as a landslip hotspot.
Reports show that more regions of the land are becoming unstable when you combine the effects of climate change with the melting of glaciers.
The volcanic islands of Hawaii, on the other hand, have a long history of experiencing massive tsunamis brought on by volcanoes collapsing and sending millions of rocks into the ocean.
The West Coast is also considered one of the most active seismic areas in North America, reports New York Post, home to the infamous “Pacific Ring of Fire” which is responsible for many of the world’s largest earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.
The report cautions that a massive tsunami might reach northern California, northern Oregon, and southern Washington as a result of the powerful earthquake and rising sea levels.
It appears that there is a 15% possibility that an earthquake with a magnitude of higher than 8.0 will occur in this region of the world during the next 50 years.
According to the latest study, coastal land would sink up to 6.5 feet as a result of such an earthquake.
Tina Dura, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of geosciences in the College of Science, commented on the alarming findings, saying, “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.”
Dura and her team calculated that if it happened today, 777 miles of roads, 22,500 buildings, and thousands of people in the 14,350-person area would “fall within the post-earthquake floodplain.”
Sea levels are expected to increase by an additional three feet by 2100, raising the possibility of devastation.
Dura explained, “Today, and more so in 2100 as background sea levels rise, the immediate effect of earthquake-driven subsidence will be a delay in response and recovery from the earthquake due to compromised assets. Long-term effects could render many coastal communities uninhabitable.”
Nonetheless, there may be some solace in the fact that the area has not seen an earthquake of magnitude greater than 8.0 since January 1700, and according to Dura, the area is not “very densely populated.”
However, she noted that certain villages are located “right in the zone of subsidence.”
“This is honestly where I think the subsidence could have bigger impacts than it has during other recent large earthquakes around the world.”
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