A catastrophic earthquake in the Cascadia region of the Pacific Northwest could lower the ground near the coast by up to 6.6 feet (2 meters). Combined with rising seas caused by climate change, that could create long-term flooding problems for coastal areas in northern California, Washington and Oregon, a new study finds.
Such a quake would triple the amount of land in the 100-year floodplain in the Pacific Northwest by 2100, according to the study.
