Tsunami waves as high as 42 feet could crash into Seattle within minutes of an earthquake on Seattle Fault, study finds
CBSN
A single earthquake in Seattle could cause a catastrophic situation for the northeast corner of the state, a new report from Washington's Department of Natural Resources found.
The study was focused on the Seattle Fault, located beneath the Puget Sound and the city of Seattle. Researchers developed modeling scenarios based on the impacts of the last tsunami-triggering earthquake in the region, which occurred about 1,100 years ago. That earthquake on the fault is believed to have been between a 7.0 and 7.5 magnitude event and researchers said in their report that it may have been the only large earthquake on the fault within the past 16,000 years.
However, they said, "the fault is still active and is capable of generating similar tsunamigenic earthquakes today."
