Is The Pacific Northwest Overdue For A Major Earthquake

Living in the Northwest, you just can't help but be aware that we live on the "Pacific Ring of Fire". A group of fissures and sliding tectonic plates that goes all the way from Russia to Southern California. 

According to axios.com,
‘The same immense geological forces driving quakes, tsunamis and volcanoes far across the Pacific Ocean mirror those at work beneath Washington, Oregon and California, Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, tells Axios.’ 

On July 30th there is an earthquake in Russia. It's just another reminder that in some ways we are living on a knife edge here in the Pacific Northwest. The recent Magnitude 8.8 Earthquake that occurred July 30 beneath the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia was severe enough to cause tsunami warnings From the US West Coast to Chile and to Japan. 

Combine that with the swarm of earthquakes that surrounded Mount Rainier and the 7.3 earthquake that occurred on July 16th in the Aleutian Islands. 

Consider this. 

The Pacific Ring of Fire is home to almost 75% of all the active volcanic activity on Earth. Over 90% of all earthquake activity on the planet occurs within the Pacific Ring of Fire.  

I remember getting ready to go to school when the 1965 Seattle earthquake hit. I was all dressed, had my lunch box, getting ready to head out the door and walk to school when it started. It was a frightening experience. 

I remember my sister telling me later that as she was sitting in her home room at school, looking out the window, she could see waves of earth moving across the nearby golf course, just like a wave would move across the ocean heading towards their school building. 

Historically, A massively destructive earthquake happens within the Pacific Ring of Fire every 550 years. The most recent one in recorded history occurred in 1700. Think about this, that was 325 years ago.  

So, We're due.
Ring of Fire shocks spotlight West Coast earthquake risk - Axios Seattle
Plate Tectonics and the Ring of Fire
What to know about Mount Rainier's most intense seismic swarm yet - Axios Seattle