Risk Management (July 01, 2010)

CHANCE OF ‘THE BIG ONE’ HITTING B.C. OVER NEXT 50 YEARS IS 10-15%

There is a 10-15% of a mega-earthquake hitting the northern segment of the Cascadia Subduction Zone at some point during the next 50 years, according to research from Oregon State University.

The northern segment of the Cascadia Subduction Zone covers an area from Vancouver Island, B.C. to Seaside, Oregon.

“The largest earthquakes occur in the north and usually rupture the entire fault,” said Chris Goldfinger, a marine geologist at Oregon State University. “These are quakes of about Magnitude 9, and they are just huge. But they don’t happen as frequently.”