Cascadia's Fault: The Coming Earthquake and Tsunami that Could Devastate North America

Many people do not know the fault even exists, as deadly as it could be today. Fascinating and Educational, I will definitely read this book again!

This book is frequently recommended for people who live on the west coast of North America, especially from northern California into northern British Columbia in Canada, as residents of those areas are at risk for earthquake disasters, especially tsunamis from the Cascadia subduction fault. This fault line runs north of the San Andreas fault and appears capable of generating a 9+ earthquake and tsunami about every 500 years. The book covers the painstaking development of the awareness of the danger the fault represents and the emerging awareness generally as to the causes and characteristics of earthquakes and tsunamis. This is a worldwide endeavor and the author covers the international scientific community that has led to the understanding of these events, with the close study of the recent historical events in Sumatra, Chile and Japan providing new insights into what can happen in these disasters, how they are similar and how they can differ. Of particular interest to me was the descriptions of the sharing of information among earthquake specialists internationally so that everybody benefitted from the information that became available through close study of these events. I was also very interested in the practical applications that different communities made to reduce the risks to the residents of these earthquake prone areas, especially when trying to educate the people about rapid evacuation to higher ground if they are in a coastal area when they experience a severe earthquake. The death toll in the 2004 earthquake and tsunami was partly due to the people not being aware of the risk of the tsunami until it was too late to get far enough away from the coastal area to be safe. I was very interested in learning how this knowledge is being used for the planning of mitigation for these events. This covers everything from developing quake resistant building codes to educating and training the populations of these coastal areas as to the importance of rapid evacuation of the lowlands in the event of an earthquake. Highly recommended.

The risk is real and significant. It's not all about the San Andreas fault. Earthquakes and tsunamis are a real concern for residents of the Pacific Northwest. Take a lesson from Chile, Sumatra and Japan. Make a plan now, because you won't have time to plan when the Cascadia fault ruptures.

Jerry Thompson's has written a page-turner that chronicles how scientists discovered that the Cascadia Subduction Zone was not aseismic as thought just a few decades ago, but rather a risk that threatens the region from southern British Columbia to northern California. Unlike those who hype disaster, Thompson lets the unfolding science and the scientists speak to the reader is sober and sobering tones.While those who live at the coast will be the most effected, they are relatively few compared to the millions living inland who have little idea what to expect. The effects of the earthquake are slowly working its way into the public conscience. Oregon has just released The Oregon Resilience Plan, a detailed presentation of what should be done to minimize the damage from a Cascadia event. This study, over 300 pages, gives a detailed look at what to expect. Resilient Washington State, a similar plan, is far less detailed and less informative for the average reader.There are tens of thousands of pages understandable to the educated reader about the Cascadia Subduction Zone. By far the best overview and by far the most readable is Cascadia's Fault. This is the book created my desire to learn and to do more. All who live within the region should read this book.

Cascadia's Fault addresses a probable scenario of a 9.0+ earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone from N. California to Vancouver Island, BC, followed by a tsunami that could rise as much as a 60 storey building at shorelineAlong the entire zone. Developing the potential risk from many different studies, indicating this subduction followed by a tsunami has occurred at a regular frequency over thousands of years, causing the shoreline to shrink. Jerry Thompson meticulously details studies done from many different angles, including studies of the history of Tsunamis in Japan, correlated with verbal records from Native North Americans regarding the tsunamis.If you have a scientific bent, or are interested in disaster preparation, this is an excellent book. If you live in a coastal area, you might begin to study the elevation of the land in your area relative to the location of your house. The appeal of the book is much broader than that.

A very well done book. Actually what could have been really techs was a wonderful smooth read. It is truly amazing how far we have come in the science of earthquakes and more.I found I could not put this book down. Recommend to those interested in the West Coast and it’s moving earth.

Earthquakes and tsunamis have been relatively irrelevant to me (with exception to the momentary headline grabbing horror depictions of nature's fury) prior to this reading. The plethora of facts woven copiously throughout this engaging, awe inspiring, vividly depicted history lesson has left me stunned at my own ignorance. Never before has the foundation under my feet so intrigued me. That is saying quite a bit for a senior living on the east coast of America, who's life had been devoted (or perhaps limited) to functions of human behavior in normal social settings. Interesting that so many of the processes of discovery and subsequent findings can be readily applied to fields of endeavor far removed from geological spheres. This would be an awesome addition to the required reading list for any "education."

The Cascade fault will precipitate a disaster on the US Western Seaboard sometime in the near future, it is overdue. This is an excellent book on how the understanding of tectonics and subduction has developed such that it is now realised that this monster lurks off the coast. This is also a good explanation of how recent the science of plate tectonics has developed and how quickly. This is not an intensely scientific book, the author is a reporter not a geophysicist, but he has managed to pitch it at a level where anyone can understand it, but those of us who understand the science can still read, enjoy and learn from it.

What an engrossing and fascinating book. A highly detailed look into not just the Cascadia Fault, but the background into much of the developing research and knowledge of fault zones. Brilliant and deeply thought-provoking.

A must read. The disaster that will destroy western North America from Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino California. It is a certainty that is 300 years overdue.

A Documentary almost detective style book looking at how historical and geological evidence has been gathered to understand the huge potencial threat of North America's Cascadia Fault.For more maps and images would have made this book better as is very text based - yet explains many concepts and point that are easiest to understand through visuals.All in all a interesting read on the build up of facts which prove that the Cascadia Fault will one day bring an Earthquake and Tsunami to the West coast of North America on the scale of the 2004 Sumatra.