Mega-thrust earthquake
Background:
The good thing about Mega-thrust earth-quack risks is that they are limited to certain areas where the geology is set up for one to occur. The bad news is that, when they occur the effects can be far reaching. These mega quakes happen where tectonic plates have collided and one plate is gradually sliding on top of the other plate, thus pushing the other plate down. Normally this movement happens at a fractional snails pace, but every so often, the plates get stuck. The pressure and force of an entire continent slowly builds up until in one moment, the pressure is released, this causes the top plate to move dramatically and in addition to massive earthquakes, can also displace massive amounts of water suddenly (if the quake happens under water), causing massive tsunamis.
Has this happened before?
This has occurred many times before, but most recently and notably 2011, Japan and 2004, Indian Ocean. Archeology is full of events like this including a mega thrust earthquake that caused a massive tsunami on the northwest coast of the USA. It is this event that I would like to focus on, not so much its archeological points, but its potential for reoccurrence
The potential of a mega thrust tsunami event on the west coast of the USA
Earthquakes on the cascadia fault line do happen from time to time, and at this point the fault is estimated to be 50 years over due. an earth quake on the cascadia fault line is expected to be as strong as a 9.2 and last around 4 minutes and create a tsunami 90 feet high. The aftermath is expected to be devastating for the states closest to the fault line (Washington, Oregon, and California). The event is expected to take 13,000 lives and generate an additional 2,500 non-fatal injuries. Kenneth Murphy (The director of FEMA) has stated he expects everything west of I-5 to be “Toast”. The states just east of WA, OR, and CA, are planning on having to deal with thousands of migrants fleeing the devastation. Also, we should be prepared for the recovery to take a long time, as the infrastructure needed to bring in assistance (roads, rails, airports, etc) will likely be destroyed.
What can be done to prepare?
The same things necessary to prepare for an EMP or Solar Flair should be considered for this scenario. In addition, If you live on the west coast, i recommend an earthquake insurance.
For further investigation:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one