Cascadian Earthquake
This is what people mean when they refer to "the big one." Everyone has been anticipating an earthquake to hit the west coast for a very long time. the earthquake that will strike the 600-mile-long Cascadian subduction zone, which runs from California to British Columbia.
A 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck the fault line in the year 1700. In the past century, there have only been four earthquakes of greater magnitude. The nuclear meltdown at Fukushima was caused by one of them. The coastline receded several feet as a result of the 1700 earthquake. There is a chance that a tsunami with waves of 100 feet height would follow if another earthquake of such magnitude struck.
The likelihood that a significant earthquake will strike this region within the next 50 years is one in ten. Since the previous one, the pressure has been gradually increasing, and this time it is a given that it will occur. This will occur; the question is when. And if it's large enough, it might cause the San Andreas fault to rupture.
Everything west of Interstate 5 is projected to be destroyed if the earthquake is severe enough. 140,000 square miles will be completely destroyed. If FEMA forecasts are accurate, 13,000 people will die, 27,000 will be hurt, and about a million will be displaced.
