Bit by bit, emergency service providers and families in the region prepare for what could be a very big earthquake: a movement along the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
Other parts of the country do not have the localized risk we face. But they do have something we don't: a major increase in seismic activity in recent years.
The more frequent quakes appear to be "induced" quakes, caused by human activities like wastewater injection at petroleum sites. U.S. Geological Survey spends money and staff time investigating the increase. Justin Rubinstein of USGS talks to us about what investigators are finding... and not.
Dr. Rubinstein speaks in Coos Bay at the SWOCC Geology Lecture, Friday (Jan. 26) at 7 PM.