||| FROM FOX WEATHER |||
Bubbling discovery along Cascadia Fault gives insight into area prone to 9.0 killer quakes in West© University of Washington
9.0 QUAKE ROCKED THE PACIFIC COAST 323 YEARS AGO AND SENT AN ‘ORPHAN TSUNAMI’ TO JAPAN
Recently, researchers at the University of Washington found warm liquid bubbling up from the seafloor about 50 miles from Newport, Oregon. Observations suggest the spring is sourced from water 2.5 miles beneath the seafloor at the plate boundary, regulating stress on the offshore fault.
Scientists say the discovery gives them a better idea of how tectonic plates lock into place between large earthquakes.
“They’re like messengers from the deep,” Evan Solomon, UW associate professor of oceanography, told FOX Weather. “They’re providing us a pretty well intact and pristine sample of what the fluids are like in the plate boundary at these depths.”
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The link to the Seattle Times doesn’t work!
“Fluid released from the fault zone is like leaking lubricant, Solomon said. That’s bad news for earthquake hazards: Less lubricant means stress can build to create a damaging quake.” There is also speculation that the northern section of the CSZ is ‘locked’ tighter than the southern section, which implies that when it does slip that the movement will be more significant, potentially causing more damage in WA and Vancouver island.
https://www.washington.edu/news/2023/04/10/warm-liquid-spewing-from-oregon-seafloor-comes-from-cascadia-fault-could-offer-clues-to-earthquake-hazards/