42-Foot Tsunami Would Hit Seattle In Minutes After Quake, Study Finds

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released a terrifying new simulation of a monster earthquake rocking the Seattle Fault that would produce a tsunami as high as four stories in the central business district of Seattle.

“Tsunami waves could be as high as 42 feet at the Seattle Great Wheel and will reach inland as far as Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park,” Washington State DNR tweeted. 

NEW: A simulation of the impact of a ~7.5-magnitude earthquake on the Seattle Fault.

Tsunami waves could be as high as 42 feet at the Seattle Great Wheel and will reach inland as far as Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park. pic.twitter.com/y44PWHXQtv

— Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources (@waDNR) July 7, 2022

Washington Geological Survey division of DNR wrote in a press release that a 7.5-magnitude earthquake on the Seattle Fault would generate tsunami waves over 40 feet tall and hit the downtown district in less than three minutes.

Geologists said the last known quake on the Seattle Fault occurred more than one thousand years ago, and geologic evidence shows at least five quakes of an estimated magnitude 6.5 occurred on the fault in the last 3,500 years. 

“Most often, when we think of tsunamis, we think of our outer coast and communities along the Pacific Ocean. But there’s a long history of earthquakes on faults in Puget Sound.

“While the history of earthquakes and tsunamis along the Seattle Fault is less frequent than the Cascadia subduction zone, the impacts could be massive. That’s why it’s critical these communities have the information they need to prepare and respond,” Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said in the release. 

The study was “conducted to help local and state emergency managers and planners develop and refine response and preparedness plans for a tsunami in the middle of Washington’s largest population center and economic hub,” the release said.

An earthquake swarm off the Pacific Northwest coastline in late December incited fears that the next big tsunami could be nearing.