Currently on Vancouver Island, Canada, there are frightening signs of a possible powerful earthquake. This island is adjacent to the Cascadia Fault Zone. Scientists are concerned that the ongoing series of hundreds of earthquakes could be a sign of an imminent cataclysm.
An impending earthquake will destroy most of the northwestern region of North America. FEMA Northwest Director Kenneth Murphy said the natural disaster would kill about 13,000 people and injure about 25,000 more.
Juan de Fuca's oceanic tectonic plate is gradually sliding beneath the North American tectonic plate, which is the plate on which this continent is located. The Juan de Fuca Plate pushes the North American plate at a rate of about three to four millimeters per year and compresses it eastward by about 30-40 millimeters per year. The N American tectonic plate will eventually rebound slightly. This is what will cause a devastating earthquake in this region.
More than 150 earthquakes have struck Vancouver Island in the past 24 hours.
According to preliminary forecasts, the strength of the probable earthquake will be at least 9.2 points on the Richter scale and it will last at least 5 minutes.
When this happens, the northwest edge of the continent will fall 2 meters down and bounce 30 meters west. Not only will this lead to landslides, but some of them will occur under the ocean, causing huge water displacement. The water raises a giant tsunami wave that will go towards Japan and the northwestern coast of North America, just fifteen minutes after the earthquake.
FEMA Northwest Director Kenneth Murphy said that after this cataclysm, about a million people will be displaced, and about two and a half million people will need food and water supplies. It will take at least a year to restore the destroyed infrastructure, and this is only if the main roads, water supply, and sewerage are restored. The total rebuilding of destroyed areas could take decades.