Seismograph — Bellingham, WA
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Dunbar Loop
N 48° 44.014 W 122° 29.158
10U E 537797 N 5397966
Earthquakes are a part of life in this region. While those that felt by people are rather infrequently, several tectonic plates off the coast are being subducted by the North American Plate. This makes seismographs a very important machine locally.
Waymark Code: WM11ADD
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 09/16/2019
Views: 3
In use for some 20 years, this seismograph served its two decades in the basement of Western Washington University's Haggard Hall of Science.
Along with the improving science on earthquakes and tectonic plates it was rendered obsolete as other seismographs were stationed around the Salish Sea.
The Salish Sea, Canada's Coast Mountains, and the United States' Cascade Range are here because of these incredible forces that earth has in its crust. Several ancient tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean are currently being subducted by the North American Plate. While earthquakes in the region are infrequently felt by people, the evidence of these forces is in the high mountain ranges. In addition, the ancient plates are being recycled by the forces of pressure and heat in the earth's crust. They come back to the surface as the Cascadia Volcanic Arc.
This particular machine was many of that recorded the Great Alaska Earthquake that devastated Anchorage in March 1964. It was recorded as a magnitude 9.2 on the Richter Scale. This made it the second strongest earthquake in the entire world during the 20th century.
Today, the Pacific Northwest remains vulnerable to another earthquake of a similar magnitude to the Great Alaska Earthquake. On January 26, 1700 the 1700 Cascadia earthquake occurred. This megathrust earthquake ruptured a 1,000 km line off of today's Washington State and Oregon. Today the cities of Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, as well as the large area around them are trying to prepare for another megathrust earthquake. When? Where? No one knows. But this seismograph helped scientists gain more knowledge on earthquakes in the region.
Listen to CBC Radio One's podcast series Fault Lines to learn how this region is trying to learn and prepare for the next big one.
The seismograph is located on the lowest level of WWU's Environmental Studies Building as a part of its free mineral and geological museum that lines the hallways.