Geoscientists found the most dangerous part of a famous West Coast fault

The most destructive Cascadian earthquakes are likely to slam offshore of Washington state and Vancouver Island, new data reveal.  

The Cascadia megathrust is a massive fault thought capable of generating devastating magnitude 9 earthquakes similar to the 2011 Tohoku temblor, but its structure has long eluded scientists. Now, data from the most comprehensive survey yet show that the fault is not a single, continuous fracture but comprised of at least four segments. The most dangerous appears to stretch from off the coast of southern Vancouver Island through Washington state, researchers report in the June 7 Science Advances.

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