The following is a fictionalized scenario,
though many scientists agree that it is not only possible- but inevitable. And most expect it to happen very soon. It's a quiet Valentine's day morning in 2021. For a month and a half the world's been grateful
that the dreadfulness of 2020 is finally over, but it seems disaster has one last gasp. A hundred miles off the North American northwest
coast, two continental plates are stuck in a million year old shoving match. The Juan De Fuca oceanic plate and the North
American continental plate have been drifting in opposite directions for much longer than
humanity has been around, with the Juan De Fuca plate being forced under the massive
North American plate. The process hasn't been smooth though, and
the two plates have been 'stuck' in place for a very long time, the massive forces acting
on the Cascadia Subduction Zone creating a noticeable bulge in the crust of the earth. At 8:03 AM, eighty miles of the Juan De Fuca
plate finally buckle from the incredible strain, slipping under the North American plate. In an instant, the bulge flattens, and energy
equivalent to the total output of the entire planet in one year is released. Mere milliseconds after the collapse, the
entire Pacific Northwest coast, from British Columbia to northern California begins to
shake. The foreshock alone measures at a whopping
magnitude 6, rattling commuters just now driving to work all across the pacific coast of north
america. Even as far south as Los Angeles homes are
rattled, pictures falling off the walls. But the nightmare has only just begun. The shaking very quickly intensifies dramatically,
and suddenly buildings and bridges are swaying several feet in the air, pushing their earthquake
tolerances to the absolute limit. Smart government regulation has mandated for
decades that American and Canadian high rise buildings and bridges both be built to withstand
large quakes, and despite their appearance even the largest skyscrapers are surprisingly
resistant. But no skyscraper, and no city on earth, has
ever faced the wrath of a magnitude 10 earthquake. The shaking is so severe, that the tops of
skyscrapers are now swaying over three feet in the opposite direction of their bases,
causing a 6 foot offset. This is too much for many of even the most
modern, and earthquake-proof buildings, and internal support columns begin to crack under
the incredible strain. Inside of high rise offices and apartment
buildings, people are thrown across rooms, then violently tossed back in the opposite
direction from the awesome force of the mighty shaking. Water pipes feeding fire suppression systems
burst, flooding the inside of buildings. After the first thirty seconds, some of the
interior walls begin to crumble, exposing dangerous live wires to the water streaming
out of burst pipes- thousands are electrocuted. Incredible as it seems, there are still four
and a half minutes left of shaking to go. Plate glass windows, built to resist hurricane
force winds and tremendous impacts, shatter from the strain of twisting and swaying in
their frames as the building dances back and forth around them. People are hurled out of now open windows
and to the streets below, those running for their lives on city streets are showered with
guillotine blade sized chunks of glass and falling people alike. On bridges across the American northwest,
cars are violently thrown to and fro. Panicking drivers either try to speed off
the wildly swaying bridges or slam their brakes in terror. This causes a massive traffic jam, trapping
motorists on the dangerously swaying bridges. Many flee their vehicles on foot, crawling
over stuck vehicles and doing their best to not be thrown off the bridge by the violent
swaying- but after forty five seconds of violent shaking, it's finally too much. The structural tolerances of bridges all across
cascadia are exceeded, and one by one bridges collapse, plunging thousands to their deaths. Rail lines are severed all across the region,
causing trains to derail and plow into surrounding buildings. Passengers and cargo are spilled all over
cities and the wilderness, causing many more deaths- along with a massive environmental
disaster as millions of tons of industrial chemicals and wastes are spilled across some
of the most pristine forest in North America. Massive fires erupt as oil and gas being shipped
by rail freight is spilled in train disaster after disaster. Now the Pacific Northwest is not only shaking,
it's burning. Back in the cities, people flee the violently
swaying buildings, but they find no safety on the streets. Falling glass and masonry slices and crushes
people running for their lives, and as gas mains are severed massive explosions rock
cities in the affected area. Raw sewage floods city streets, sinkholes
begin to emerge and swallow people by the dozens. At a minute and a half of shaking, all but
the sturdiest skyscrapers begin to crumble. There are still three and a half minutes left. Powerful waves of energy deep beneath the
earth combine with the normal shaking caused by the massive earthquake to create a unique
scenario in the ground above it. The soil itself seems to liquefy, shaken so
violently that it becomes almost like quicksand. While most skyscrapers have survived up to
this point, this is the final nail in the coffin. Buildings weighing millions of tons suddenly
sink several feet into the ground, losing their firm foundations and now shaking uncontrollably. The center support columns vital to keeping
skyscrapers aloft snap like toothpicks, and almost as if caught in a controlled demolition,
skyscraper after skyscraper seems to collapse inwards. Masonry the size of boulders rains down across
city blocks, burying anybody caught out in the open. Those stuck inside the collapsing buildings
have almost no chance of survival- though a few of those who took shelter in basements
and parking garages become entombed by the falling debris. Incredibly, the earth continues to shake at
such violent magnitude for another three minutes. The full five minutes of constant shaking
is enough to bring down nearly every structure over four stories all across the North American
northwest. The cities of Seattle, Vancouver, Portland,
Spokane, Tacoma, and Boise, along with a few others, are almost completely leveled. It is devastation on a scale humanity has
not seen since the end of the second world war, entire cities once full of over half
a million people, have nearly disappeared in a haze of dust and smoke. Iconic landmarks such as Seattle's space needle
are gone, brought low by the worst earthquake humanity has ever endured. Massive fires have broken out, and from space
it appears as if almost the entire region of Cascadia is in flames. However, fire will very soon be the least
of the survivor's concerns. Less than a minute after the shaking finally
stops, it finally arrives- the most devastating tsunami in recorded history. The incoming tsunami is so massive, that entire
ports all along the coast are emptied of water just before its arrival. Many recognize this portent of impending doom
from videos of the infamous tsunamis in southeast asia and Japan, and begin to flee for their
lives. Others stare dumbfounded as marine life flops
and gasps for breath where just moments ago they were swimming in water up to thirty feet
deep. The fish don't have to wait long for the water
to return. Racing at 1,000 miles per hour, the tsunami
towers 200 feet in the air, or almost 80 feet higher than the 2011 Japanese tsunami that
devastated the country. Survivors of the violent shaking scramble
to get to rooftops all across the North American coast, but there are few buildings tall enough
to save them- the incoming wave measures nearly 14 stories tall, and as it finally breaks
on land, it washes right over coastal infrastructure, crushing thousands under the pounding waves. The real devastation however comes not from
the height of the tsunami wave, but the incredible power behind it. Entire buildings are ripped from their foundations
and carried along with the wave, as the waters push an incredible half-mile inland in most
places. Anything still standing in coastal cities
is now under assault by a battering ram of trillions of tons of water and debris- and
for most surviving buildings it's too much. Skyscrapers that miraculously survived the
shaking are brought low by the battering ram effect of the crashing waves. The wave takes almost half a day to begin
to wash back out to sea- by which time a tsunami wave sent towards Asia finally makes landfall
in Japan and China's coast. Hawaii has long since been inundated, though
thanks to the warning actual fatalities are almost zero. Devastation reminiscent of the 2011 Japanese
tsunami wreaks havoc as far south as Vietnam. Back in North America, rescue efforts by the
US military begin almost immediately after the start of the disaster, but there are few
to save. By the time the waters finally recede, any
survivors of the earthquake who had taken refuge in basements or car garages have been
drowned. Others further inland and ahead of the waves
may have as little as days left to live before breathable air runs out. With thousands of collapsed buildings to search
in each affected city, and dozens of major population centers affected, there's simply
not enough rescue personnel in the US and Canada to save most of those trapped. Sea levels return to their normal state after
a day, but the fires take two weeks to put out. So much smoke has been created by the burning
cities that smog spreads as far east as Detroit. When the smoke and fire finally clears, the
North American Pacific Northwest looks like a world war has been waged there. Cities have been turned to rubble and ash,
but the pristine forests and pride of Cascadia have burned out of control for half a month. Untold millions of acres have been reduced
to glowing embers, the damage shockingly visible from space and appearing like a massive, gray
scar on the North American continent. The final death toll is in the millions, and
will only climb as disease and starvation begins to take its toll on an entire region
who's infrastructure has been completely devastated. To make matters worse, a resurgent winter
brings its icy chill down on the area, and many survivors freeze to death for a lack
of proper heating. The US military pours its massive resources
into humanitarian efforts in cities on both the American and Canadian side of the border,
bolstered by a huge global response to this unprecedented disaster. Even countries normally at odds with the United
States send aid, Chinese and Russian search and rescue personnel working alongside US
and Canadian personnel. Much like in the Christmas tsunami of Southeast
Asia and the Japanese 2011 tsunami, the world has been united by tragedy, but the affected
area is simply too large- there are too many victims and not enough aid. The earthquake's death toll will continue
well into summer as starvation and disease plagues those who lived through the most destructive
earthquake in world history. Now go watch this while you’re still alve-
worst natural disasters in human history, or click this other video instead!
