Earthquake: San Andreas Fault and Cascadia Subduction Zone could be linked, trigger double quake, per Oregon State University

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Scientists say there’s new evidence that two of the best-known earthquake fault lines on the West Coast are in sync and that has the potential for a major disaster.

A new study by experts at Oregon State University focuses on the San Andreas Fault, which runs from Northern California to Southern California, and the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coast of Oregon and Washington.

Scientists looked at sediment pulled from the ocean and found earthquakes on one fault have the potential to set off the other within hours.

Just one large earthquake could be devastating, but two in a row could mean massive emergencies across the whole West Coast.

Emergency planners should prepare for that possibility, according to Chris Goldfinger, a marine geologist at Oregon State University and lead author of the study.

“We could expect that an earthquake on one of the faults alone would draw down the resources of the whole country to respond to it,” Goldfinger said. “And if they both went off together, then you’ve got potentially San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver all in an emergency situation in a compressed timeframe.”

You can read more on Oregon State University’s study here.

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