Scientists from University of Portland and US Geological Survey have joined the forces with Earth Sciences Animated and Mount Tabor Middle School Portland to create an animated video explaining tectonic earthquakes of the Pacific Northwest.
The video describes the types of tectonic earthquakes occurring in the Pacific Northwest, their history and the nature of their occurrence, and shows a Pacific Northwest shake map to illustrate the potential threats in the earthquake prone region.
Video credit: IRIS EPO
The experts explain the Pacific Northwest is host to more than the anticipated megathrust earthquake that will happen off the Cascadia coast in the future. That earthquake will be due to the stress building between the Juan de Fuca and North American plates as the oceanic Juan de Fuca plate dives deep beneath the Pacific Northwest. However, there are also deep earthquakes within the subducting plate, and shallow earthquakes in the overlying continental crust. This is because of additional forces acting on the region besides subduction-zone processes.
Featured image credit: IRIS EPO
