13. Could it Happen Here?
Expedition Menu
1.
Introduction
2. Global Distribution
3. Earthquakes & Plate Boundaries
4. The Ring of Fire
5. Convergent Boundaries
6. Atlantic Ocean
7. Atlantic Ocean II
8. Alaska Earthquake
9. Vertical Slice
10. 3-D Look
11. California Plate Boundaries
The second, surprising observation is the very few earthquakes are located along the convergent plate boundary at the Cascadia subduction zone.
How can this be -- is this a convergent plate boundary without big earthquakes?
Do residents of Seattle and Portland not need to worry about earthquakes?
The two things that stand out about this earthquake distribution are:
First, look at all the earthquakes are located within the interior of the Gorda plate -- plates are supposed to be strong, but the Gorda plate is so small and young -- it is the 98-pound weakling of plates. It is undercompression as a result of being caught between the large North American and Pacific plates.
Read Article about Evidence of a Huge Earthquake in the Past in Pacific Northwest
Make sure that you answer the questions in worksheet related to this article.