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Major quake cluster found off West Coast

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Published: Dec. 31, 2004 at 12:08 PM
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CORVALLIS, Ore., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A "clustering" of great earthquakes that could trigger a major tsunami has been identified off the Pacific Northwest coast, scientists say.

According to scientists at Oregon State University, the area known as the Cascadia subduction zone has experienced a cluster of four massive earthquakes during the past 1600 years.

They say if historical trends continue, this cluster could be over and the zone may already have entered a long quiet period of 500 to 1,000 years, which appears to be common following a cluster of earthquake events.

Or, the current cluster of earthquakes may have one or more events left in it -- some clusters within the past 10,000 years have had clusters of up to five events -- and within a cluster, the average time interval between earthquakes is 300 years.

Since the last major Cascadia earthquake occurred in the year 1700, the next event may well be imminent, the report says.

© 2004 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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