The M=9 Megathrust Earthquake of
January 26, 1700
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This great earthquake occurred about 9 pm on the night of January 26 in the year 1700. This was almost 100 years before the first European explorers made contact with native peoples on the west coast. The time and date of the earthquake are known because the large tsunami, or tidal wave, generated by the earthquake swept across the Pacific Ocean and did considerable damage at several places along the east coast of Japan. Japan has a written history dating to that time, and the size of the tsunami and its arrival time were well recorded. Using this, and other historical data, scientists were able to calculate the time of occurrence, location, and size of the generating earthquake. This was one of the world's great earthquakes with a magnitude estimated at 9. Oral traditions of the native peoples of Vancouver Island suggest the tsunami destroyed a village at Pachena Bay on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and that the shaking damaged houses in the Cowichan Lake region of south central Vancouver Island.
This earthquake occurred on the Cascadia Fault, the boundary between the North American and Juan de Fuca plates. This type of large earthquake is now known as a megathrust earthquake.