Mega-tsunami warning within 50 years: New study says these 3 US states are in direct path of disaster

A powerful mega-tsunami could strike large portions of the United States — particularly the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Hawaii — due to a potentially massive earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, scientists have warned. The alert stems from new research by Virginia Tech geoscientists, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This part of the US has a 15 percent chance of experiencing an earthquake greater than magnitude 8.0 in the next 50 years, the researchers wrote in the study. The quake could cause coastal land to subside by as much as 6.5 feet, severely worsening the tsunami’s destructive impact.

Cascadia subduction zone: A sleeping giant

“The expansion of the coastal floodplain following a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake has not been previously quantified, and the impacts to land use could significantly increase the timeline to recovery,” said Tina Dura, the lead author of the study and assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Geosciences in a statement.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a 600-mile-long convergent fault line stretching from Cape Mendocino, California, to northern Vancouver Island, Canada. It’s where the Juan de Fuca Plate is slowly sliding beneath the North American Plate — a geological setup that, researchers warn, is capable of producing mega-thrust earthquakes.

“Cascadia is a unique place. It’s not super heavily populated, but most estuaries have a community in them, and they’re all right in the zone of subsidence,” Dura said. “This is honestly where I think the subsidence could have bigger impacts than it has during other recent large earthquakes around the world.”

Coastal states on high alert

According to the study, the areas most at risk include Northern California, northern Oregon, and southern Washington, though Alaska and Hawaii remain vulnerable due to their proximity to seismic and volcanic zones.

What is a mega-tsunami?

Unlike ordinary tsunamis, which can be caused by undersea earthquakes or landslides and result in wave heights of several feet, a mega-tsunami is defined by its extreme wave height and reach. These waves, triggered by massive underwater displacements, can soar hundreds of feet high and travel miles inland.