A major earthquake shook the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Oregon Thursday night, sending tremors across multiple West Coast cities and raising concerns about more quakes to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 6.0-magnitude quake struck around 10:25 p.m. ET, roughly 180 miles offshore. Residents reported feeling the shaking as far as Portland\u2014about 300 miles from the epicenter\u2014as well as in Eugene, Salem, Coos Bay, and Dallas. Three hours later, a magnitude 3.1 aftershock hit the same area, and the US Geological Survey (USGS) warns there\u2019s a 65% chance more aftershocks could follow over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The earthquake occurred along the Juan de Fuca Plate, the tectonic force behind the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ)\u2014a nearly 700-mile fault line stretching from northern Vancouver Island in Canada down to northern California. Scientists have long nicknamed the CSZ the \u201cSleeping Giant\u201d due to its potential to unleash a catastrophic quake. Simulations show a magnitude 9.0 event could strike the Pacific Northwest, devastating major cities like Seattle and Portland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the tsunami alert system was activated after Thursday\u2019s quake, the National Weather Service confirmed there was no threat to the U.S. coastline and no dangerous waves were produced. USGS estimates the odds of another quake stronger than magnitude 5.0 in the region over the next week at roughly 1-in-50. A massive rupture above magnitude 7.0 is considered extremely unlikely in the immediate term, with less than a 1% chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Still, experts emphasize that the risk remains over the long term. A 2025 study predicts a major CSZ earthquake is nearly inevitable by 2100, with a 37% chance of occurring within the next 50 years. Should a quake between 8.0 and 9.0 strike, models suggest a potential mega tsunami of up to 100 feet, capable of devastating the nearby coast. FEMA\u2019s 2022 emergency report estimates that such an event could injure over 100,000 people and damage or destroy more than 618,000 buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Historically, the last massive CSZ earthquake occurred on January 26, 1700. Scientists estimate it measured 9.0 in magnitude and triggered a mega tsunami that wiped out Pachena Bay in British Columbia, with waves reaching up to 100 feet just 30 minutes after the quake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thursday night\u2019s quake caused no reported injuries or property damage, but it serves as a stark reminder of the region\u2019s seismic potential and the importance of preparedness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For residents along the West Coast: make sure your emergency plans are up to date, kits are stocked, and evacuation routes are clear\u2014because when it comes to earthquakes, preparation is the best protection.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A major earthquake shook the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Oregon Thursday night, sending tremors across multiple West Coast…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4005,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions\/4005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}