Mysterious earthquake reveals Cascadia’s hidden dangers

In 1954, a powerful earthquake shook Northern California near Humboldt Bay, baffling scientists for decades. Most quakes in the region come from the Gorda Plate, but this one didn’t fit the pattern. After digging through old records, modern models, and eyewitness accounts, researchers now believe the quake originated on the Cascadia subduction interface—the same fault capable of producing catastrophic megaquakes.