5 Massive Earthquakes Waiting To Happen

anyone that lives close to a fault line knows how dangerous and destructive earthquakes can be it's a terrible feeling to know that there is absolutely nowhere a person can run because the ground in every direction is shaking but there is another terrifying feeling that exists even when everything is calm and things are as they should be it's the feeling of knowing that one day in the future that area will experience a massive earthquake that dwarfs all others there are a few places on earth that scientists know will produce incredibly powerful earthquakes sometime in the future no one knows when it could be five days five years or five centuries but what they do know is that these earthquakes could not only be costly in financial terms but costly in terms of lives lost from california to japan here are five massive earthquakes that are waiting to happen if you enjoyed this video be sure to subscribe to underworld for more videos just like it residents of california know about earthquakes all too well although they can't feel most of them they can get quite severe from time to time in 2020 alone there was one quake that measured a 6.5 magnitude 12 that measured between 5.0 and 6.0 and thousands more lower than that it is just a part of living in california from time to time though there are some quakes like the one in 1906 that was at 8.3 and took the lives of nearly 3 000 people or the one in 1980 that was a 7.4 and caused millions of dollars in damage now whenever earthquakes are discussed in california there's always talk of the big one because scientists have predicted that areas in california close to the san andreas fault could be due for a quake of epic proportions this fault line is about 800 miles long and close to 10 miles deep the fault is where two major tectonic plates come together and are constantly grinding against each other while some parts of the fault creep at around two inches per year others have been locked in place for a very long time however scientists have speculated that these areas could give way at any point and the sudden release of energy would be powerful enough to dwarf every earthquake that has come before it the damage could be like nothing we have ever seen before as the fault is near many heavily populated areas luckily nothing has happened as of yet and the earthquakes that happen in the area are small in comparison to what is to come another fault line in california is the hayward fault which is a crack in the earth's crust that is about 62 miles long and located in the san francisco bay area while we seem to always hear about the san andreas fault the hayward fault is referred to by the u.s geological survey as a tectonic time bomb according to them it is the most dangerous urban fault zone in the country with the potential to bring about earthquakes that could shake an entire city to pieces on average the hayward fault experiences a magnitude 6.8 or greater about every 140 to 170 years the last major earthquake along this fault line was back in 1868 meaning that the bay area is due for another large earthquake in the near future however there would be a huge difference between the 1868 quake and the one which is predicted to happen in the next few years today there are millions more people that live in the area making the risk to human life greater also there are many more cities and towns that have been built which would bring the financial cost of such a disaster to untold levels but don't fear just yet there's no telling when this earthquake will occur and chances are it won't be in our lifetime it has been estimated that if an earthquake with the same intensity as that of 1868 were to strike today the total economic losses would likely be costlier than any earthquake in american history with san francisco san jose and oakland all in the vicinity the damages could easily be in excess of 165 billion dollars anyone who knows anything about earthquakes will tell you one of the most volatile places on the planet is in and around the country of indonesia this is an area that is incredibly active because there is a convergence of not two but three tectonic plates here the eurasian australian and pacific plates around 130 miles off the western coast of the country lies the incredibly active sumatran fault line right along this line is where most of the country's volcanoes can be found and is also where most of the seismic activity happens in 2004 an incredibly powerful undersea earthquake occurred where the indo-australian tectonic plate was slipping beneath the eurasian plate with a sudden jolt the plate displaced a massive amount of water sending a tsunami toward the coast once the tsunami reached the coast it caused a massive amount of damage and took the lives of over 50 000 people the earthquake that caused it was said to have produced the energy of 23 000 hiroshima-sized atomic bombs scientists and geologists have become even more concerned since that incident because they fear the earthquake may have increased the pressure on the other parts of the sumatran fault thereby increasing the likelihood of even stronger earthquakes and putting hundreds of thousands more at risk scientists have predicted that another large earthquake could hit around the city of padang with an expected intensity of 8.5 or higher it would not only shake indonesia but it could send another deadly wall of water towards other countries the best thing you can do if you live near these regions is prepare and stay vigilant if a warning ever does go out be sure to get to higher ground just off the western coast of canada lies an area known as the cascadia subduction zone it is a 600 mile long fault that runs from the northern shores of california up to british columbia and sits around 100 miles off the coast it is not known for having many earthquakes as there have only been 41 in the last 10 000 years however there is another more menacing title that this fault line has it is also known as a megathrust fault and is considered by many in the geologic community to be a ticking time bomb in this area the pacific tectonic plate does not move much against the juan de fuca plate however when it does end up moving and scraping against the de fuca plate the energy that is generated is enough to thrust large sections of earth upward in a very quick sudden motion such thrusts have been the cause of many devastating tsunamis in the past the story here would be exactly the same california and many of its large cities would feel some effect however the most at risk states would be alaska and hawaii waves that could reach over 80 feet high would strike with incredible force taking the lives of thousands and leaving many thousands more homeless the last major earthquake in this area took place in 1700 it was estimated to have been a 9.0 magnitude quake that generated a tsunami that went across the pacific ocean damaging parts of the japanese coast earthquakes of this size typically strike every few hundred years so it is possible that an earthquake is overdue in this region another country that is no stranger to seismic activity is the country of japan geologically it has worse luck than indonesia in that it serves as the crossroads where four tectonic plates meet creating multiple fault lines because of this japan is one of the most earthquake prone areas on earth many of which are considered to be major the 1923 great kanto earthquake struck near two densely populated cities tokyo and yokohama taking the lives of around 130 000 people in 1995 another earthquake struck in the kobe region but the worst earthquake in the country's history happened in 2011 when a 9.1 quake struck just off the coast sending a huge tsunami towards the shore and taking the lives of over 20 000 people and causing a meltdown of the fukushima nuclear power plant this all demonstrates the danger that the japanese people live with on a daily basis but what has scientists concerned is the fact that these earthquakes are putting stress on other parts of the tectonic plates when you have so many plates that converge on one area the slightest movement in one plate could cause enormous stress in another with so many large earthquakes happening it is possible that there may be added stresses in other parts of the fault lines which fault lines they are is a mystery there are too many to make a rational guess the best guest scientists can make is in the tokai suruga bay region which is located along japan's pacific coast scientists believe that a magnitude 8 or higher earthquake is overdue here because the philippine plate is inching its way underneath the eurasian plate forming a subduction zone which are some of the most dangerous and violent areas for earthquakes to happen the last rupture in this area was in 1854. and before that in 1707 that means it is possible but not guaranteed that another earthquake is due it's such a helpless feeling to walk around an area with the knowledge that it could be that exact spot where the next mega quake could occur even more helpless is the fact that there is absolutely nothing that can be done to prevent such things from happening we can only try to understand them better so that detection parameters can be put into place saving lives in the long run to see another video like this be sure to click the link on screen now with that thanks for watching and we'll see you next time

Channel: Underworld

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Keywords: Underworld, Underworld channel, Top 10, Top 5, Facts, viral, recent discoveries, mystery, scary, 2021, earthquake, california earthquake, the big one, san andreas fault, massive earthquake, massive earthquakes, massive earthquakes waiting to happen, cascadia subduction zone, japan earthquake, india earthquake, powerful earthquake, natural disaster, earthquakes, Japan earthquake, Japan tsunami, 2021 natural disasters

Id: Ay7GzLi0xsU

Length: 10min 2sec (602 seconds)

Published: Thu May 13 2021