The San Andreas Fault is a transform boundary that separates the North American and Pacific Plates. The smaller Juan de Fuca plate lies between these two plates opposite Oregon, Washington, northern California, and part of British Columbia. The Pacific Plate moves northwest relative to the North American Plate.
A fleet of canoes followed U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) geologist Brian Atwater from mudbank to mudbank along the Niawiakum River on Washington State's south coast, where he showed the paddlers evidence for the most recent Pacific Northwest earthquake of magnitude 9 and the associated Pacific Ocean tsunami. Most of the paddlers were visitors from the Indian Ocean region, hoping to gain knowledge that would help make their home countries safer from the threat of tsunamis. The field trip, held July 26, 2007, was part of a new Certificate Program in Tsunami Science and Preparedness offered by the University of Washington (UW) in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This program is the first offering of the International Tsunami Training Institute, established by NOAA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in response to the tsunami that claimed 300,000 lives around the Indian Ocean in December 2004.Landslide generated tsunami in Lituya Bay, Alaska; July 9, 1958:
Is this what's in store for the Puget Sound and Straits of Juan de Fuca?