Megathrust Earthquakes: The Horror!
11th March 2011, 2: 45 PM, local time Japan, a day, a time, a moment which saw what can be termed as the worst natural disasters for Japan – A magnitude-9 earthquake ruptured the fault line that spreads across 500 km along the northeastern coast of Japan. This earthquake was the fifth largest in the world as per some reports by eminent scientists. The earthquake was followed with a giant tsunami whose size was so overwhelming that the 18-feet tsunami walls near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was literally “drowned” by waves which were, according to some horrified eyewitnesses, around 25-feet high. The death toll still remains unconfirmed as of this day and so do the number of missing persons. The capital city of Tokyo was witness to swaying skyscrapers which were reputedly built with “earthquake-safety” mechanisms.
The above paragraph is by no means a proper account of the destruction that took place on 11th March 2011 but it certainly gives an idea about the destructive power of an earthquake. So it certainly makes sense to know about megathrust earthquakes and their potential power for untold destruction.
Residents of Seattle, one of the cities falling under the Pacific Northwest belt (A huge stretch from Northern California to Canada) along with Vancouver and California are standing right next to the gates of destruction.
Californians certainly need to start preparing for a megathrust earthquake on a proactive note. The San Andreas Fault is right next door for them and if a megathrust earthquake does take place (let’s hope it never does take place) then California will be the first city in the path towards absolute destruction.
These days, everyone is talking about the next megathrust earthquake and what is more alarming its possibility of taking place along the Pacific Northwestern belt. In other words, the poem of Hellenic savagery can be written right here.
The government has certainly been on a proactive note for preparing the general public for this possible megathrust earthquake. But have the preparations started too late? Authorities have started conducting mock-evacuation drills and situational-awareness about earthquakes has begun to be taught to children in schools. Emergency services are in full swing with trainings and preparations for the “big one.”
But can a megathrust earthquake really happen in USA? Well, a lot of people think that such a quake can indeed take place. The numbers do not seem to be too appalling. However, scientists are speculating that the chances for a megathrust earthquake in the near-future are quite high. According to them, the Cascadia subduction zone present underwater of the Pacific Northwest coast is on the verge of reaching their maximum tolerance point.
A subduction zone is a huge gash in the earth’s crust and is the zone where one of the tectonic plates making up the earth’s crust is pushed under the other. And a megathrust earthquake happens when the strain on the tectonic plate that is pushed under reaches the point where this plate slips to bulge upwards and slide suddenly.
Are there any corresponding effects? Yes, there are many and the one that strikes out the most goes by the name of Tsunami – A mammoth wave. A Tsunami takes place when the energy from the sliding motion results in a huge amount of energy getting transferred on to the sea bed and resulting in the corresponding creation of a wave having a magnanimous oscillation rate.
Hence, a deadly combination of a megathrust earthquake and a tsunami is certainly a troublesome aspect to worry about. And this combination is more likely to take place in a subduction zone. Hence, with the speculations now in place about a possible megathrust earthquake in the Pacific Northwest in the Cascadia subduction zone the cause for concern is quite high.
