The Giant Awakens - Scientists Warn of Imminent Catastrophe

Scientists warn of imminent catastrophe: the awakening of a giant geological fault, dormant for three centuries, will cause flooding of significant territories along the Pacific coast of North America. Water levels will rise by at least 2 meters.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to the authoritative scientific journal PNAS, off the coast of the Pacific Northwest lies a dormant tectonic shield that has maintained an ominous silence for years. Now scientists have reached a disturbing conclusion: its awakening could cause unprecedented chaos in territories from California to Canada.

This colossal fault, known as the Cascadia subduction zone, extends approximately 1,130 km - from Cape Mendocino in California to Vancouver Island in Canada. Despite centuries of calm, specialists assert that its activation will trigger an earthquake of monstrous force, which will generate tsunamis up to 30 m high. And this, according to new research, will be just the beginning of catastrophic events.

## The awakening of the fault will create chaos

New research conducted by scientists from Virginia Tech has shown that the rupture of the Cascadia subduction zone will lead to coastal subsidence of more than 1.9 m in just minutes. This will cause a rapid rise in sea level, which will catastrophically affect coastal settlements, megacities, and ecosystems in the region.

According to specialists' calculations, such a scenario will expand the federally designated 1% coastal floodplain (an area with an annual flooding probability of 1 in 100) by an area of 13.5 to 44.8 sq.km. The research group emphasizes that this will have colossal long-term consequences for the region, where there is already a significant risk of flooding.

Tina Dura, co-author of the study and associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the College of Science, notes: "The expansion of the coastal floodplain after an earthquake in the Cascadia subduction zone has never been quantitatively assessed before. The consequences for land use could significantly increase the recovery time for the region after a disaster."

## The giant fault will cause an earthquake of unprecedented force

The Cascadia subduction zone is the largest geological fault line running through northern California, Oregon, Washington, and reaching the south of British Columbia. According to researchers, this place is the arena of grand tectonic collisions.

Geologists explain that subduction zones form where one tectonic plate dives beneath another. In the case of Cascadia, the Juan de Fuca plate (a relatively small oceanic plate) slides under the massive North American plate. This process creates colossal tension that accumulates over decades and centuries, ultimately to be released in the form of a mega-earthquake.

## The mega-earthquake will create unprecedented chaos

The Cascadia subduction zone is capable of generating earthquakes of magnitude 9 and above - the most destructive seismic events on the planet. More than 300 years have passed since Cascadia's last activity. When the fault moved on January 27, 1700, it caused an earthquake of magnitude 8.7-9.2, which generated a giant "orphan tsunami" that crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached the shores of Japan, where it was recorded in historical chronicles.

According to new research, there is currently a 15 percent probability of an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 8 along this fault within the next 50 years. Scientists emphasize that the immediate consequences of a mega-tsunami will be catastrophic in themselves