Cascadia

Cascadia

From Unresolved: A True Crime & Mystery Podcast by Unresolved Productions

April 17, 2026 · 44 min · Season 11 · Episode 7

About this episode

This episode discusses the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck western Washington in 2001 and the potential future risks from local fault lines.

"We're talking about Katrina, Sandy, and Andrew combined, times maybe ten." On 10:54 AM on 28 February 2001, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck western Washington. The epicenter was in the southern Puget Sound, but the quake originated roughly 32 miles beneath the surface, mitigating some shaking. While hundreds were injured and a woman even died as a direct result of the quake, many believe that the region got lucky that Wednesday morning and that the total damage (~$2 billion) could have been a lot higher had the quake's hypocenter been closer to the surface. This region of the world is no stranger to the earth's whims. Lying in the shadow of the looming Mt. Rainier, there are a couple of active faults - the Seattle Fault Zone and the Cascadia Subduction Zone - that seem poised to devastate in the not-so-distant future... Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me Check out the podcast store at unresolved.dashery.com If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer Become a supporter of this podcast…

Topics covered

  • earthquake
  • natural disaster
  • Cascadia Subduction Zone
  • Seattle Fault Zone
  • Puget Sound
  • Mt. Rainier
  • regional history

Keywords

  • earthquake
  • Cascadia
  • Puget Sound
  • natural disaster
  • Seattle Fault Zone
  • Mt. Rainier
  • Katrina
  • Sandy
  • Andrew

Mentioned in this episode

Places: western Washington, Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier

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