Researchers make discoveries off the Pacific coast to better understand earthquakes: ‘messengers from the depths’

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PACIFIC BEACH, WA — Researchers at the University of Washington have made a crucial discovery to help them better understand earthquake zones off the West Coast.

The findings give them more insight into a part of the country that could cause a major earthquake.

Associate Professor Evan Solomon said, “It provides a fuller (sic) understanding of the fundamentals, the basic understanding of how subduction zones work.

Solomon and other researchers study subduction zones — the underwater regions that produce earthquakes when tectonic plates collide.

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Researchers from the University of Washington have detected warm liquid coming from the sea floor. (Fox News)

The research team detected warm fluid coming from the seafloor off the coast of Oregon, giving them a better idea of ​​how tectonic plates hold themselves in place between large earthquakes.

Solomon said: “They are like messengers of the depths.” “They give us a pure, completely intact sample of what fluids look like at plate boundaries at these depths.”

The discovery occurred along the Cascadia Subduction Zone – a fault line more than 600 miles long that stretches from southern British Columbia to northern California.

The Cascadia Subduction stretches more than 600 miles from southern British Columbia to northern California. (Fox News)

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Solomon hopes the research will help improve prediction of future earthquakes.

“This new discovery provides new information for our models about how subduction zones work,” Solomon said. These models could eventually be used to predict earthquakes.

The Pacific coast is about 100 miles from the Cascadia Subduction, and that means coastal cities will quickly feel the impact of the quake.

“Once the shaking stops, we have about 15 to 30 minutes to get to higher ground before the first tsunami hits,” said Scott Cameron, a geologist from Seabrook, Washington.

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Coastal cities have plans ready in case of flooding from an earthquake. (Fox News)

Coastal cities pay close attention to earthquake threats and need the latest information to prepare for it.

“The key is to communicate what we know,” said Cameron. “Right now, we have models and understanding based on the best science we have available. And we need to make sure that gets out to the public.”

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There is a 15% chance of a major earthquake occurring at the Cascadia subduction zone over the next 50 years. If that happens, experts believe it could be compared to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan that killed nearly 20,000 people.

Jake Karalexis joined Fox News in 2022 as a multimedia reporter based in Seattle.

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