A tsunami that never ends? The study shows an impending risk of the west coast.

The pressure continues under the surface of the earth off the coast of the Pacific northwest, and a multi -layered catastrophe can occur at any time.

A huge earthquake is along the Cascadia subduction zone that could destroy bridges, redesign the landscape and trigger a massive tsunami. Scientists have known about the impending danger for years, but ongoing research always creates a clearer picture of what could happen.

Among the dangers: a huge tsunami that will flood over the cost bearers and flood permanently.

The quake is a question of whether, not when, said Tina Dura, geologist and professor of natural hazards at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia.

The latest studies have focused on how climate change increases the effects of the earthquake on coastal areas that suddenly decrease.

The researchers expect the quake to trigger a soful decline of 6 feet in some internal areas, a massive tsunami will flood these regions permanently.

“Imagine after all the terrible things that had happened after the hurricane Katrina, even if we had also lost large parts of New Orleans and never came back,” said Diego Melgar, professor at the University of Oregon and director of the Eartsbque Science Center in the Cascadia region.

The loss of landlades is only one of the surreal series of events that will occur when the earthquake finally beats, say researchers.

When will the next earthquake zone of the Big Cascadia subduction zone become?

This is a mixture of bad and good news. The quake is a certainty, but could be free hundreds of years.

While it could happen at any time, seismologists have estimated that in the next 50 years there is a probability of 15% a probability of size 8 – a significant risk of such a devastating scenario.

Part you trust results from the history of great earthquakes in the region.

“It could be tomorrow or decades. But geologically, we are in the window of the opportunity,” said Dura. “The last event was 1700, and Pale ice cream records show that these earthquakes occur about every 200 to 800 years. By 2100 there is a 30% probability that a large earthquake will take place.”

The earthquake of the Cascadia subduction zone

Scientists have a clear picture of what will happen when the earthquake beats.

“At first it would be extremely strong – tremors that make it difficult to stand or walk. This would probably take a minute or more,” said Melgar.

Next, land along the coast would fall up to six and a half foot within minutes.

“Then there would probably be 30 to 40 minutes of apparent peace. But that's a wrong impression because the tsunami is coming,” he said.

The resulting waves would be in the order of the Tsunami of the Indian Ocean in 2004, in which more than 50,000 people were killed.

The Tsunami wave from an earthquake of this size could be 90 or 100 feet, said Melgar.

Tsunami trouble

When the Tsunami wave arrives on the coast, “you get this massive increase, which takes hours and sometimes days,” said Melgar.

Here global warming comes into play. Two things play a role in creating the disaster that describes their research.

First, the country would have dropped up to six feet. At the same time, the sea level increases from climate change that the water that is located will cover more land.

“You would hope that the tsunami would come to the coast and then flow out again and dry out the country. But there will be parts in which it is now under the sea level – the water will not flow back,” said Melgar.

A large earthquake in Cascadia could immediately expand the flood zones and double flood inputs for residents, structures and roads. In combination with increasing sea level, these effects could make some coastal communities permanently uninhabitable, said Dura.

Even if some areas dry out along the coast, they will be much closer to the sea level and will become susceptible to annoying floods if there is a particularly large storm or a particularly high flood.

Small earthquakes will not prevent any big ones

The west coast is constantly exposed to numerous small earthquakes, but they are not large enough to relieve the pressure that is built along the Cascadia default line, said Melgar.

So much energy has built up in the zone that even an earthquake of strength 8 would not alleviate it.

“Remember that the size scale is logarithmic. So every increase in size is an increase of 30 in terms of energy,” he said.

The big earthquake in San Francisco from 1906 was a Temblor of strength 8 and devastating. “If we had a quake of strength 8 here, we would still have 29 to relieve the pressure,” he said.

This article originally appeared in USA today: a tsunami that never ends? The study shows a risk on the west coast.