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Relative Tsunami Hazard From Segments of Cascadia Subduction Zone For M w 7.5–9.2 Earthquakes
Author(s) -
Salaree Amir,
Huang Yihe,
Ramos Marlon D.,
Stein Seth
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2021gl094174
Subject(s) - subduction , geology , seismology , geodetic datum , tsunami earthquake , episodic tremor and slip , slip (aerodynamics) , earthquake rupture , seismic hazard , amplitude , geodesy , tectonics , fault (geology) , physics , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
Tsunamis from earthquakes of various magnitudes have affected Cascadia in the past. Simulations of M w 7.5–9.2 earthquake constrained by earthquake rupture physics and geodetic locking models show that M w ≥ 8.5 events initiating in the middle segments of the subduction zone can create coastal tsunami amplitudes comparable to those from the largest expected event. Our rupture and tsunami simulations reveal that the concave coastline geometry of the Pacific Northwest coastline focuses tsunami energy between latitudes 44° and 45° in Oregon. The possible coastal tsunami amplitudes are largely insensitive to the choice of slip model for a given magnitude. These results are useful for identifying the most hazardous segments of the subduction zone and demonstrate that a worst‐case rupture scenario does not uniquely yield the worst‐case tsunami scenario at a given location.