A MASSIVE earthquake could strike due to the awakening of a lost fault line that has lied dormant for 40 million years.
A new study has revealed that a major quake could be imminent as researchers believe the 621 mile long fault line is no longer asleep.
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The Tintina fault stretches 1,000 kilometres across northern Canada, crossing the Yukon and ending in Alaska.
Researches from the University of Victoria and the University of Alberta has spotted signs of two relatively recent groups of earthquakes that significantly shifted the ground – one 2.6 million years ago and another 132,000 years ago.
However, within the last 12,000 years, the team found no evidence of notable earthquakes.
This quiet period could be a warning, meaning a major quake could be on the horizon, Science Alert reports.
University of Victoria geologist Theron Finley, said: “Over the past couple of decades there have been a few small earthquakes of magnitude 3 to 4 detected along the Tintina fault, but nothing to suggest it is capable of large ruptures.
“The expanding availability of high-resolution data prompted us to re-examine the fault, looking for evidence of prehistoric earthquakes in the landscape.”
The team carried out a fresh look at the fault by using a combination of the latest high-resolution satellite imagery and Light Detection and Ranging technology.
Their research helped to reveal narrow surface ruptures, which suggest past quakes, but nothing in the recent geological past.
Based on these calculations, the fault should have slipped around six meters, but it hasn’t.
This could mean, once that pressure is released, an earthquake with a magnitude of more than 7.5 could be triggered.
The research paper reads: “The Tintina fault therefore represents an important, previously unrecognised, seismic hazard to the region.
“If 12,00 years or more have elapsed since the last major earthquake, the fault may be at an advanced stage of strain accumulation.”
While this area isn’t particularly populated, it still homes 1,600 people in the nearby Dawson City.
The quake also poses a threat to infrastructure and ecosystems.
The researchers added: “Further paleoseismic investigations are required to determine the recurrence intervals between past earthquakes, and whether slip rates have changed through time due to shifts in tectonic regime, or glacial isostatic adjustment.”
What causes earthquakes?
Here’s everything you need to know…
- An earthquake is a shockwave caused by rocks being under extreme forces
- They are typically triggered by the movement of Earth’s crust
- Earth’s tectonic plates, the massive shelves of crust that carry the continents and seafloor, meet at points called fault lines
- When these plates rub over or against one another, huge amounts of pressure are generated
- This creates shockwaves that send violent vibrations through Earth
- The shock can split the planet’s crust and create devestating tsunamis
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