Forecasting Earthquake Impacts, Not Timing, For West Coast
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Resources & Recommendations
People Mentioned
- Diego Melgar (Director of CRESCENT - The Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center) - A seismologist who discussed the potential impact and nature of a major earthquake in the Pacific Northwest.
- Chris Goldfinger (Marine Geologist and Paleoseismologist at Oregon State University) - Referenced for his insights on earthquake prediction being the "P word" in the scientific community and his research on the Cascadia and San Andreas faults.
- Kenji Satake (Japanese colleague) - Mentioned for modeling the 1700 orphan tsunami to determine its origin in Cascadia.
- Tina Dura (Coastal Geologist and Paleoseismologist in the Geosciences Department at Virginia Tech) - Discussed her work on extracting sediment core samples to reconstruct past earthquake and tsunami events and their impact on land levels.
- Paul Lundgren - Acknowledged for his research and expertise that informed the episode.
- Suzanne Carbot - Acknowledged for her research and expertise that informed the episode.
Organizations & Institutions
- CRESCENT (The Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center) - An organization focused on earthquake science in the Cascadia region.
- Oregon State University - The academic institution where Chris Goldfinger is a marine geologist and paleoseismologist.
- Virginia Tech - The academic institution where Tina Dura is a coastal geologist and paleoseismologist.
Other Resources
- "Orphan Tsunami" - Refers to the tsunami that hit Japan in 1700 without a preceding earthquake, later traced back to the Cascadia subduction zone.
- "The Big One" - The colloquial term used by Portlands for the anticipated major earthquake from the Cascadia subduction zone.
- Ghost Forests - Thousand-year-old trees on the Oregon and Washington coast that were submerged in seawater quickly due to past earthquakes, serving as geologic clues.
- Sand Deposits in Soil - Geologic evidence found in the landscape indicating past large earthquakes.
- Earthquake Early Warning System - A technological system utilizing seismometers and algorithms to detect initial earthquake vibrations and issue alerts within 15-20 seconds.
- San Andreas Fault - A major tectonic plate boundary south of the Cascadia fault, responsible for many earthquakes in California, and potentially seismically linked to Cascadia.
- Short Wave Episode on Earthquake Science and Seismometers - A previous episode of the podcast recommended for listeners interested in learning more about earthquake science and seismometers.