Earth Is Quietly Tearing Apart Beneath the Pacific Northwest
Earth is tearing apart beneath the Pacific Northwest
Seismic imaging beneath Cascadia reveals a subduction zone breaking into pieces, not shutting down at once. Researchers found faults tearing the sinking Juan de Fuca plate, including a 75-kilometer rip and a slab section dropped about five kilometers. The piecewise breakup may explain ancient microplates and slab windows, though it does not change Cascadia's earthquake hazard on human timescales.
Rather than shutting down all at once, the plate is ripping apart piece by piece, creating smaller microplates and new boundaries. So instead of a big train wreck, it's like watching a train slowly derail, one car at a time.