The Cascadia and San Andreas faults may be linked
Mann
Last week, there were reports that three earthquakes were recorded off the West Coast near the border of California and Oregon. The strongest one measured a 5.7 and was located about 100 miles to the west of Pistol River, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. These quakes were also near the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which served as a reminder of the potentially damaging earthquakes this region can generate.
The western coastline of North America is one of the most active seismic regions in the world. Powerful geological forces constantly shape the landscape as tectonic plates collide, slide past one another, and sink beneath neighboring plates. These movements have produced some of the continent’s largest earthquakes throughout history, including the big San Francisco earthquake in 1906. Research performed by Professor Chris Goldfinger at Oregon State University, published in Scientific American late last year, now suggests that two of the region’s most important fault systems, the San Andreas Fault and the Cascadia Subduction Zone, may be more closely connected to one another than previously thought. Scientists have discovered evidence indicating that major earthquakes along these faults may have occurred in close succession several times during the past 3,000 years.
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