NEW STUDY BY CWU SCIENTISTS

REVEALS UNEXPECTED SLOW EARTHQUAKES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

March 28, 2002 Contact: Meghan Miller (509-963-2825/fax 509-963-1109, meghan@geology.cwu.edu

ELLENSBURG, Washington, USA. "There is an earthquake going on right now, yet no one feels it," says Dr. M. Meghan Miller, Central Washington University geophysicist.

The temblor, or so-called slow earthquake, began on Feb. 7. An article by Miller and her colleagues, titled "Periodic Slow Earthquakes from the Cascadia Subduction Zone," will appear in tomorrow's (March 29) issue of Science magazine - a weekly publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

	Periodic slow earthquakes from the Cascadia subduction zone. The article is available here.
	This timeseries from the GPS station at Alberthead (ALBH) on Vancouver Island, British Colombia, shows the periodic signals from slow earthquakes every 1.2 years.
	This timeseries from the GPS station at Friday Harbor (SC02), Washington, shows the onset of the slow earthquake in early February 2002.
	These changes in baseline lengths show the periodic signals from slow earthquakes measured between DRAO and other GPS stations. Inset is the timeseries from the GPS station at Friday Harbor (SC02), Washington, showing the onset of the slow earthquake in early February 2002.
	The subducting Juan de Fuca plate generates earthquakes of several types. This figure shows the relationships between these events and the moving plates.
	The GPS station KTBW at Gold Mountain near Bremerton, Washington, is shown in this picture with the Olympic Mountains in the background. For a higher resolution version click here.
	The GPS station SC02 at Friday Harbor, Washington, and its installation is shown on this web page.