It is long past due for another dose of Reality 101. Possibly it is now time to raise the bar to Reality 201. It is time to consider further what is soon coming to the Cascadia region, and yes, to virtually the whole West Coast of the United States and Canada. Let us start by considering a long-held, erroneous concept which is in the minds of many. This erroneous concept is that in an earthquake event, the quake is only associated with one fault line. Let us now begin to examine a more realistic scenario for Cascadia and the West Coast.
It was not long ago that scientists were looking at the earthquake menace presented by the San Andreas Fault in California. Scientists were looking at the damage and potential loss of life which could result if certain of its segments ruptured. But this view has begun to change in more recent times and scientists are becoming more concerned as the reality regarding California faults in general is beginning to dawn on them. Scientists are now looking at the potential for linked faults, plus the larger magnitude earthquake events which can be associated with these linked faults.
In 2015, word went out that the Calaveras Fault and the Hayward Fault are actually connected (1). This could allow for a much larger quake in this area than previously thought. Then, in Southern California, it now appears that "the San Jacinto and San Andreas Faults could rupture together (2), producing one very destructive earthquake event. The preceding link notes ruptures "across multiple faults simultaneously. This is important information to consider not only in California, but also in relation to the next Cascadia earthquake event.
It is now time to consider things learned from a more recent event --- the earthquake in New Zealand. An article, linked here, declares that 6 faults ruptured in the November 2016 earthquake. Another article, linked here, indicates that possibly more than 6 faults ruptured in this quake. This type of information, once again, is very important to consider in relation to the coming Cascadia earthquake event. It is also important when considering the seismic potential of virtually the whole West Coast of the United States and Canada. The seismic event which appears to be soon coming to the region could be much larger than currently indicated by stories presented to the public via the mainstream media.
It is now time to consider the deeply buried, ancient rift beneath California, Oregon and Washington, which has been noted in earlier posts in this blog. When it begins to move and initiate a massive earthquake event, it could trigger numerous, more-shallow fault lines. Many of these shallow fault lines (many with deep connections) actually reside directly beneath major population centers on the West Coast. The magnitude and duration of this type of earthquake event could be much greater than is commonly being told to the public. After an event like this, for the survivors, life potentially could never be the same again on the West Coast of the United States and Canada. In the future, it is possible that life could be rather primitive in this region.
For further reading:
Current Expectations for a Cascadia Mega-Quake
https://cascadian.neocities.org/cascadiaquake.htm
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