By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:41 PM on 22nd April 2011
- Cascadia fault line has lain dormant for 300 years
- Eruption could trigger tsunami, devastating seaside communities – and reach as far as Japan
The north-west coast of the U.S. could be devastated by a huge movement of undersea plates known as a ‘megathrust’ earthquake, scientists say.
A review of the dangers posed by the Juan de Fuca plate released in the wake of the Japanese quake has raised fears that the Pacific seaboard could be similarly ravaged.
The horrifying possibilities have been brought to light by data researched by the Active Tectonics and Seafloor Mapping Laboratory at Oregon State University.
And the results are shown in a documentary, Megaquake: The Hour That Shook Japan, which is set to go out on the Discovery Channel in the UK this weekend.
