The Real "Next Big One"

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one

Alarming article about Seattle (and the entire Pacific NW including Portland and Northern California). In it the scientists studying this say there is a 1 in 3 chance of a big earthquake hitting Seattle in the next 50 years and a 1 in 10 chance of a catastrophic (9.0 or larger) happening.

Apparently, there is evidence that over the last 10,000 years these earthquakes have happened 41 times which averages out to once every 243 years. The last such earthquake occured in the year 1700. This means we are already 72 years overdue for the next quake. Apparently, it has to do with tectonic plate shifts with the North American continent essentially sliding over the Juan De Fuca oceanic plate. But its not sliding...its stuck. Pressure builds and eventually, land liquifies under the immense pressure and we get huge earthquakes when they finally give way. The prediction is land will move 30 to 100 feet to the west and drop approximately 6 feet. The resulting Tsunami will arrive on the west coast within 15 minutes and...