Experts on red alert for mega-earthquake off the US coast

Jan51

Jan51

Well-Known Member

(Graphics removed, can be seen at link)​

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Experts on red alert for mega-earthquake off the US coast - after discovering a crack in 600-mile long fault line at the bottom of the Pacific​

By STACY LIBERATORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 17:31 EDT, 13 April 2023 | UPDATED: 00:28 EDT, 14 April 2023
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...coast-analyzing-hole-fault-line.html#comments

Scientists fear a hole in a 600-mile-long fault line in the Pacific could trigger a catastrophic earthquake that would decimate cities along the northwestern US.
The hole spewing hot liquid sits 50 miles off the shoreline of Oregon, on the boundary of the dipping fault known as Cascadia Subduction Zone, which spans from Northern California into Canada.
This geological feature is capable of unleashing a magnitude-9 earthquake in the Pacific Northwest - and the hole could be the fuel it needs.


The leak was first observed in 2015, but a new analysis led by the University of Washington (UW) suggests the chemically distinct liquid is 'fault lubricant.'
This liquid allows plates to move smoothly, but without it, 'stress can build to create a damaging quake,' researchers said.

The hole sits on the boundary of the Cascadia Subduction Zone and is spewing chemically distinct liquid that could be 'fault lubricant.' This liquid allows plates to move smoothly, but without it, 'stress can build to create a damaging quake,' researchers said



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The team named the hole, which they describe as a hot spring, 'Pythias Oasis' after the ancient Greek oracle who 'prophesized' with the assistance of the mind-altering gases rising from a hot spring.
'It seems equally hallucinatory to find a spring of low-salinity, high-temperature, mineral-rich water flowing from the seafloor 3,280 feet below the surface off the coast of Oregon,' researchers shared in a statement.
A robotic diver uncovered the hole in a 2015 survey when sonar images captured bubbles rising from the seafloor.
Data showed liquid from the spring was coming from the plate boundary line and appeared warmer than the surrounding area.
Co-author Evan Solomon, a UW associate professor of oceanography who studies seafloor geology, said in a statement: 'They explored in that direction and what they saw was not just methane bubbles, but water coming out of the seafloor like a firehose.
'That's something that I've never seen and, to my knowledge, has not been observed before.'
Observations later determined the leaking fluid was 16 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the surrounding seawater and was coming directly from the Cascadia megathrust, where temperatures are an estimated 300 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
'Loss of fluid from the offshore megathrust interface through these strike-slip faults is important,' the statement notes, 'because it lowers the fluid pressure between the sediment particles and hence increases the friction between the oceanic and continental plates.'
The Cascadia megathrust spans several major metropolitan areas, including Seattle and Portland, Oregon, but also touches parts of Northern California and Vancouver Island in Canada.
Solomon compared the megathrust fault zone to an air hockey table
Scientists discover a leak at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean






Scientists said this is the first known site of its kind and fear a megaquake could be unleashed

A robotic diver uncovered the hole in a 2015 survey when sonar images captured bubbles rising from the seafloor. Data showed liquid from the spring was coming from the plate boundary line and appeared warmer than the surrounding ar
A significant fluid leak off central Oregon could explain why the northern portion of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, off the coast of Washington, is believed to be more strongly locked, or coupled, than the southern section off the coast of Oregon, experts said
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'If the fluid pressure is high, it's like the air is turned on, meaning there's less friction and the two plates can slip,' he said.
'If the fluid pressure is lower, the two plates will lock – that's when stress can build up.'
The Cascadia subduction zone is a region where two tectonic plates collide.
The Juan de Fuca, a small oceanic plate, is being driven under the North American plate atop the continental US.
Subduction systems – where one tectonic plate slides over another – can produce the world's largest known earthquakes. A prime example is the 2011 Tohoku earthquake that rocked Japan, killing an estimated 20,000 people.
Cascadia is seismically quiet compared to other subduction zones but is not completely inactive.
Research indicates the fault ruptured in a magnitude nine event in 1700, roughly 30 times more powerful than the largest predicted San Andreas earthquake.
Solomon said that fluid released from the fault zone is the first known site of its kind.

Observations determined the leaking fluid was 16 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the surrounding seawater and coming directly from the Cascadia megathrust

The hole, which is spewing hot liquid, sits 50 miles off the coast of Oregon
However, he theorizes that similar springs could lurk nearby but are harder to detect from the ocean's surface.
A significant fluid leak off central Oregon could explain why the northern portion of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, off the coast of Washington, is believed to be more strongly locked, or coupled, than the southern section off the coast of Oregon.
Co-author Deborah Kelley, a UW professor of oceanography, said: 'Pythias Oasis provides a rare window into processes acting deep in the seafloor, and its chemistry suggests this fluid comes from near the plate boundary.
'This suggests that the nearby faults regulate fluid pressure and megathrust slip behavior along the central Cascadia Subduction Zone.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...rthquake-coast-analyzing-hole-fault-line.html
 
athenasius

athenasius

Well-Known Member
MapleLeaf said:
How much did you feel? Interesting that only 37 people reported feeling it. It doesn't look like it was THAT far out to sea.
Click to expand...
None, because I'm deep in the middle and south of BC but it was 211 km out to sea off the West Coast (the pacific ocean side) of the Island.

But what was interesting about it Maple is that it was right along the Cascadia subduction zone, a major fault line that runs up like a zipper, up the west coast of the States, and north out to sea past Vancouver Island where it intersects with other major faults off the Haida Gwaii islands.

There is a HUGE volcanic lava field from a local volcano -- a hot spot that sits just north and east of Terrace, which is across (sort of) from the Haida Gwaii.

It's pretty recent that last blow that poured a lava landscape all over.

There's a chain of inland hot spot volcanoes that kind of sit on top of the lava that is formed as the Cascadia subduction zone slides a big plate of the earth underneath the west coast.

It's way way way bigger than anything the San Andreas Fault can do in terms of destruction and it's a matter of when, not if that thing blows.

Now I think it blows as part of the Tribulation.

The reason the OP is important is actually because they (the scientists take what you will from that but my Creationist geophysicist uncle now with the Lord was one of those who studied plate tectonics) and they seem to think that the hydraulic fluid that keeps the plates all slippy slidy is exploding up thru that hole.

Like when God made the fountains of the deep to explode in Noah's time. There must have been a lot of movement of the earth's crust back then.

and look at it all getting ready on time for the Tribulation!!!!

God is amazing!!!
 
P

paul289

Well-Known Member
The number of volcanoes in Washington is frankly staggering. North to south, we have Baker, Glacier Peak, Rainier, Adams, and St. Helens. On my daily commute on a clear day, I can see 3 of them. None are extinct. All are due or overdue for regular eruptions (save for St. Helens, which famously erupted in 1980). It seems that St. Helens was allowed to erupt to showcase how catastrophic processes shaped the world during the flood, and it also seems that the others are being held back from erupting until the Tribulation, much like the Cascadia subduction zone. It probably should have already let loose, but for God's hand.
 
M

MapleLeaf

Well-Known Member
I have seen a documentary on the Cascadia Subduction Zone and it was saying how there is evidence that a mega-quake had hit the area in the early 1700s, maybe mid 1600s. They showed evidence of a massive tsunami. Apparently, there are records of Japan of an unexplained tsunami hitting them around that time as well (no earthquake on their end so they were taken off-guard). So a massive quake in the area certainly has some precedent.
 
A

Andy C

Well-Known Member
I have studied this subduction zone for years. Scientists have differing opinions on if the entire fault would go at once, or if sections only broke loose. If the entire subduction zone erupts, many costal cities would be removed from the map. Depending on where one lives, you would only have approx 20 minutes to try and escape to high ground after the earthquake before the tsunami hit. Best option would be to flee to high ground on foot vice trying to drive out.

Folks here live with knowing it could happen, but not likely anytime soon. Its like living in Wyoming, knowing if Yellowstone goes, so do you.

I cant live in fear of “what ifs”.
 
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Andy C

Well-Known Member
MapleLeaf said:
I have seen a documentary on the Cascadia Subduction Zone and it was saying how there is evidence that a mega-quake had hit the area in the early 1700s, maybe mid 1600s. They showed evidence of a massive tsunami. Apparently, there are records of Japan of an unexplained tsunami hitting them around that time as well (no earthquake on their end so they were taken off-guard). So a massive quake in the area certainly has some precedent.
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Jan 1700 was the last time the entire mega quake happened.
 
M

MapleLeaf

Well-Known Member
I ended up looking up that documentary and watched it again. Then I watched an hour long lecture about the topic from the Washington University channel on YouTube. Very informative. He had talked about the possibility of a future quake only being partial rather than the whole thing and he was pretty against the more sensationalized stuff you see in the media. He pointed out unlikely it would be for a tsunami to completely destroy the major citiies. He even pointed out how most Americans envision Seattle as being on the coast and I had to admit that I had assumed it was on the coast as well! I had obviously heard of the Cascadia Mountain Range but didn't realize it was between Seattle and the ocean. The lecture was from 7 years ago so didn't include anything about that leaking liquid the article in the OP mentions. Not sure if that would change anything in his presentations.
 
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paul289

Well-Known Member
MapleLeaf said:
He even pointed out how most Americans envision Seattle as being on the coast and I had to admit that I had assumed it was on the coast as well!
Click to expand...
True, Seattle is within the Puget Sound, and for a tsunami to reach it, it would have to squeeze through 100 miles of the Straight of Juan de Fuca which is 15 miles wide, and then through 40 miles of the Puget Sound, which is only 3 miles wide at multiple points. These waterways dissipate a great deal of energy. However, there are a number of fault lines within the Puget Sound region, with one running through Seattle. It could be possible for one of these fault lines to cause a tsunami within the Puget Sound. There was previously, back in 2001, a 6.7 earthquake with an epicenter towards the south end of the Puget Sound, though it was under land, so there was no tsunami. Large quakes like this are certainly possible throughout the region, and could result in quite large tsunamis if it were to happen underwater and cause a seabed shift. Within the Puget Sound, there wouldn't be the same level of tsunami mitigation as an earthquake off the ocean coast would have.
 
H

heisable2

Well-Known Member
paul289 said:
The number of volcanoes in Washington is frankly staggering. North to south, we have Baker, Glacier Peak, Rainier, Adams, and St. Helens. On my daily commute on a clear day, I can see 3 of them. None are extinct. All are due or overdue for regular eruptions (save for St. Helens, which famously erupted in 1980). It seems that St. Helens was allowed to erupt to showcase how catastrophic processes shaped the world during the flood, and it also seems that the others are being held back from erupting until the Tribulation, much like the Cascadia subduction zone. It probably should have already let loose, but for God's hand.
Click to expand...
I lived in the Seattle area for over 20 years and would see Mount Rainier "The Mountain" everyday on my way home from work. I lived in Graham for a while and would pass through Orting to get to my house. It was a scary thought going through that area because that is where that pyroclastic flow will be when the mountain erupts. For the life of me I don't know why Orting has been building up, because once a year they have emergency exercises for the children at the elementary school to hurry out of the school and walk across the bridge and up the hill to get away from harm's way. Then they started building a whole bunch of houses and finally a high school and thank goodness another bridge to get across the river. It was so eerie driving down that road knowing that straight ahead was The Mountain. Even more eerie was if you happen to be driving through Orting and the volcano alarm was going off as a test. I couldn't get up the road fast enough.

I was there when Mount St Helens blew its top. That whole area was a mess. And that's another eerie place if you're driving around because they still have a lot of the trees that were destroyed still standing and when you're driving down the road don't know whether one of those trees are going to slide down and hit you. It isn't a pretty area at all and I'm sure that a lot of the greenery has come back by now but I don't think we'll ever see Spirit Lake again.
 
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