2012 Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS) Activity Leads to Speculation About 2013 NW Earthquakes

The Main Himalayan Thrust has historically been responsible for a magnitude 8 to 9 earthquake every several hundred years. (Illustration: Warren Caldwell)

Will a megathrust earthquake strike the NW in 2013? New Years brings out speculators, and this time it is the Seattle PI, which quotes the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network’s director John Vidale and Stanford University geophysics professor Paul Segall whose studies indicate some potential links between "episodic tremor and slip,"or ETS activity and subsequent quakes.

According to the Stanford release:

The Cascadia subduction zone, which stretches from northern California to Vancouver Island, has not experienced a major seismic event since it ruptured in 1700, an 8.7–9.2 magnitude earthquake that shook the region and created a tsunami that reached Japan. And while many geophysicists believe the fault is due for a similar scale event, the relative lack of any earthquake data in the Pacific Northwest makes it difficult to predict how ground motion from a future event would propagate in the Cascadia area, which runs through Seattle, Portland and Vancouver. ... An important application of the work will be to help inform new construction how best to mitigate damage should a large earthquake strike.

More info:

• www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Will-a-megathrust-earthquake-strike-the-NW-in-4162559.php
• http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2012/pr-AGU-earthquakes-northwest.html