Cascadia Subduction Zone Quake Risk Increases Next Month
Mitch Battros - Earth Changes Media
The chance of a major earthquake striking Vancouver Island will be slightly higher next month as tiny tremors rattle the earth 40 kilometers beneath our feet.
Seismologists forecast the southern half of the Island, including Nanaimo, to enter a period of what they call "episodic tremor and slip" activity in mid-April, as the Juan de Fuca plate grinds underneath the North American plate along what's known as the Cascadia subduction zone.
The fault that slopes down beneath Vancouver Island comes under increased pressure at these times causing small sub-surface tremors for about a two-week period, and that's also when seismologists think it's more likely there could be a major movement of the plates, causing a potential magnitude 9 earthquake.
Such a quake would also trigger a tsunami that would level the west coast and could topple tall or unstable buildings in cities like Nanaimo.
This type of earthquake last struck in 1700, wiping out aboriginal villages and sending a tsunami across the Pacific.
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