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Evidence for great holocene earthquakes along the outer coast of Washington state

January 1, 1987

Intertidal mud has buried extensive, well-vegetated lowlands in westernmost Washington at least six times in the past 7000 years. Each burial was probably occasioned by rapid tectonic subsidence in the range of 0.5 to 2.0 meters. Anomalous sheets of sand atop at least three ofthe buried lowlands suggest that tsunamis resulted from the same events that caused the subsidence. These events may have been great earthquakes from the subduction zone between the Juan de Fuca and North America plates.

Publication Year 1987
Title Evidence for great holocene earthquakes along the outer coast of Washington state
Authors B.F. Atwater
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Science
Index ID 70014720
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse