An earthquake struck off the northern California coast on Tuesday ... of the long-term seismic risks posed by the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a less-publicized but potentially catastrophic fault ...

The rupture struck just southwest of the Cascadia subduction zone — the notorious offshore fault that stretches from Cape Mendocino in Northern California to Vancouver, British Columbia ...

The Cascadia subduction zone stretches from northern California all the way to Canada's British Columbia. It also sits under Oregon and Washington and extends off shore into the Pacific Ocean.

The Cascadia subduction zone, where the oceanic Juan de Fuca plate descends beneath the overlying North American plate, extends 1100 km from northern California to northern Vancouver Island.

A subduction zone is created where two plates converge, with one sinking into the mantle. Dynamics along the plate interface create earthquakes, magma generated above the sinking slab leads to ...