Queen Charlotte Fault

E38542

The Queen Charlotte Fault is a major transform fault off the Pacific Northwest coast that marks the tectonic boundary between the Pacific and North American Plates and is a significant source of earthquakes in the region.


Statements (46)
Predicate Object
instanceOf plate boundary
transform fault
ageContext Cenozoic plate boundary feature
approximateLength over 900 km
connectedTo Cascadia Subduction Zone
Fairweather Fault
Queen Charlotte Triple Junction
countryBordering Canada
United States
crustType oceanic-continental plate boundary
displacementType horizontal displacement
faultType right-lateral strike-slip fault
geologicalHazard tsunami generation potential
geologicalProvince northeastern Pacific margin
hazardTo coastal communities of British Columbia
coastal communities of Southeast Alaska
isMajorSourceOf earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest region
locatedInBodyOfWater Pacific Ocean
locatedOffCoastOf British Columbia
Southeast Alaska
maximumRecordedMagnitude greater than 8.0 Mw
monitoredBy seismic networks in Canada
seismic networks in the United States
motionType strike-slip
nearIslands Haida Gwaii
Queen Charlotte Islands
notableEarthquake 1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake
notableEarthquakeMagnitude about 8.1 Mw
orientation northwest-southeast
parallelTo coastline of British Columbia
coastline of Southeast Alaska
partOf Pacific–North American plate boundary system
provinceBordering British Columbia
region Pacific Northwest
relativeMotion right-lateral
researchField plate tectonics
seismology
riskCategory significant earthquake hazard zone
seismicity high
slipRate high relative plate motion rate
stateBordering Alaska
structure offshore fault zone parallel to the continental margin
tectonicPlate1 Pacific Plate
tectonicPlate2 North American Plate
tectonicRole accommodates relative motion between Pacific and North American Plates
tectonicSetting boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate

Referenced by (2)

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