SEATTLE (AP) — University of Washington seismologists are closely monitoring another slow-moving tremor that’s been detected under the Olympic Peninsula.
So-called “tremor-and-slip” events have occurred about every 15 months since they were first detected in 2002. The latest was found early Sunday north of Olympia and west of Tacoma, and is expected to travel north under the peninsula toward Vancouver Island. UW scientists say it can’t be felt at the surface, but over the course of several weeks can release as much energy as a magnitude 6 earthquake.
Researchers believe the tremors may be associated with building stress in the Cascadia subduction fault zone, about 50 miles off the Pacific coast. The zone ruptures in mega-earthquakes about every 500 years, with the last occurring in 1700.
