Anticipating the next mega-quake
Seismic activity is normal throughout the Sierra. Map/UNR Seismology Lab
By CBS News
In March 2011 the world watched in awe and horror as a colossal tsunami ravaged eastern Japan — the result of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.
Entire cities were washed away; millions were stranded without power or water; 15,000 died.
It was an otherworldy event that happened thousands of miles away. Thank goodness, many Americans thought, it couldn’t happen here. But it could happen here.
In fact, scientists say it’s a question of when — not if — a devastating earthquake, followed by a huge tsunami, strikes the continental United States, right in the Pacific Northwest.
“This would be like five or six Katrinas all at once, up and down from California to Canada, would be the closest thing I can think of,” said Chris Goldfinger, a paleo-seismologist at Oregon State University.