By Nikki Main Science Reporter For Dailymail. Web
An underground problem column along the US West Coast may cause a megaquake that , would be more damaging than California’s ‘ Big One,’ a new research suggests.
Using underground tracking techniques, scientists have mapped the , Cascadia Subduction Zone ,- a 600- hour problem series extending from southern , Canada to north California ,-  , in never before seen detail.
Instead of forming a constant ribbon like the majority of fault lines, the fault has been revealed to split into four segments. The finding could have a bigger impact because the tectonic plates is sway under one another, causing more pressure and severe disasters.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone has the potential to cause a nine-plus scale earthquake, according to the scientists.
California’s San Andreas is poised for an upward to 8.3- scale collapse, for evaluation.  ,
If an , earthquake , of over 9 magnitude struck the West Coast US it could generate tsunamis reaching 100 feet high or more, kill more than 10, 000 people and cause over$ 80 billion in damages in just Oregon and Washington alone.
In Oregon and Washington, disaster emergency plans warn that they could experience a storm of long-term lethal injuries brought on by exposure to lifeless body, animal bones, contaminated water, and Hazmat spills from industrial, commercial, and home sources.  ,
A similar problem area off the beach of , Japan , erupted in 2011, creating a scale 9 collapse that caused , a devastating wave to hit the region, killing nearly 20, 000 people.
Scientists are now concerned that a similar quake may have an effect on the US in the upcoming years, citing that earthquakes caused by Cascadia occur every 500 times, with the last one occurring in 1700.
Wang said,” The repeated period for this earthquake area for large events is on the order of 500 times.
‘ It’s hard to know precisely when it will occur, but certainly, if you compare this to other earthquake zones, it is quite soon.’
Due to the different rock and sediment that make up Cascadia’s four segments, the most alarming section extending along north Oregon, into Washington, and southwestern British Columbia, makes it more risky than other big fault lines.
‘ It requires a lot more research, but for places like Tacoma and Seattle, it may mean the difference between disturbing and fatal,’ said review co- author Harold Tobin, a geophysicist at the University of Washington.
This section of Cascadia is flatter and smoother than the other three sections, meaning it could cause the largest earthquakes, extending further into the US and impacting all of Washington’s coastal communities.
According to Tobin,” We have the potential for earthquakes and tsunamis as large as the biggest ones we’ve experienced on the planet.”  ,
Cascadia appears to be capable of producing magnitude nine or smaller or larger. ‘ ,
Suzanne Carbotte, the study’s lead author and marine geophysicist at Lamont- Doherty Earth Observatory, said this is the first clear picture of the Cascadia zone, adding that all emergency response models are based on’ old, low- quality 1980s- era data.’
The researchers hope that their findings will aid states in the impact zone in preparing for a worst-case scenario emergency response and evacuation if the Cascadia Subduction Zone bursts.
Because of the limited information in the Cascadia model from the 1980s, Oregon and Washington state, in the opinion of the researchers, are not sufficiently prepared for this kind of disaster.  ,
However, they claimed that fresh preparedness assessments might be released as soon as the following year.
Active source seismic imaging, which processes the ocean floor’s sounds and processes the echoes, was used to create the subduction zone map, which provides a more detailed understanding of how it can affect the area around it.  ,  ,
Researchers at the Columbia Climate School updated their ocean acoustic tomography models that provide images of the fault by attaching a streamer, a nine-mile-long cable, to the back of the boat.
Hydrophones can detect the differences in the elevation of rocks that indicate recently active fault lines by measuring how long it takes for sound to travel from the ocean floor to the ocean’s surface.
‘ The accuracy and this resolution is truly unprecedented. And it’s a fantastic data set, according to Kelin Wang, a research scientist at the Geological Survey of Canada who was unaffected by the study.  ,
It just makes it easier for us to assess the risk and have more information on the zoning and building codes.
