Experts on red alert for mega-earthquake off the US coast - after discovering a crack in 600-mile long fault line at the bottom of the Pacific

Scientists fear a hole in a 600-mile-long fault line in the Pacific could trigger a catastrophic earthquake that would decimate cities along the northwestern US.

The hole spewing hot liquid sits 50 miles off the shoreline of Oregon, on the boundary of the dipping fault known as Cascadia Subduction Zone, which spans from Northern California into Canada.

This geological feature is capable of unleashing a magnitude-9 earthquake in the Pacific Northwest - and the hole could be the fuel it needs.

The leak was first observed in 2015, but a new analysis led by the University of Washington (UW) suggests the chemically distinct liquid is 'fault lubricant.'

This liquid allows plates to move smoothly, but without it, 'stress can build to create a damaging quake,' researchers said.

The team named the hole, which they describe as a hot spring, 'Pythias Oasis' after the ancient Greek oracle who 'prophesized' with the assistance of the mind-altering gases rising from a hot spring.

'It seems equally hallucinatory to find a spring of low-salinity, high-temperature, mineral-rich water flowing from the seafloor 3,280 feet below the surface off the coast of Oregon,' researchers shared in a statement.

A robotic diver uncovered the hole in a 2015 survey when sonar images captured bubbles rising from the seafloor.

Data showed liquid from the spring was coming from the plate boundary line and appeared warmer than the surrounding area.

The comment,

“Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast.”

was made by FEMA regional manager Kenneth Murphy, just another dumbass bureaucrat talking out his backside...the implication being that everything east of I5 would 'not' be toast.

I worked with emergency management in the region for a number of years, mostly in my county; the New Yorker article - and, by consequence, FEMA - was roundly mocked by all by volunteers, county, city, and state officials alike.

Armchair quarterback this all you like, but the ONLY evidence of prior Cascadia events have been found on the coast and the best evidence of the impact of such an event is given by the Tohoku event.

That stated (the latter), I've made biting commentary in the past decade about the glaring lack of earthquake damage in 2011 which was NOT caused by tsunami, yet emotional misfits - even some so-called conservatives - insist on being consumed by the scaremongering.

The proper response is righteous critique of government for the lack of action (strengthened building codes, adequate emergency shelters/supplies, transportation contingencies, public maps of said emergency locations...the list of unfulfilled obligations is endless).

Oregon/Washington are ill-prepared for even a minor event, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the hype they project on the 'big one' (save for the distraction it provides).

There is little doubt that they have a plan which eclipses the virus lockdowns by an order of magnitude.

The only saving grace of such actions is that the event which precedes them will render most cctv inoperative for those who will fight the tyrants.

Don't fall into the trap laid out by public officials. Free advice.

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