WATCH: Model Shows Earthquake Would Swamp Seattle Under 20-foot Tsunami in 3 Minutes

An earthquake in Puget Sound would swamp the city of Seattle, Washington, with a 20-foot tsunami within three minutes, according to a report released Thursday by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

A new study has modeled the impact of a magnitude ~7.5 earthquake on the Seattle Fault — with tsunami waves reaching the greater Seattle area within 3 minutes. pic.twitter.com/YclpeDT6O2

— Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources (@waDNR) July 7, 2022

The Seattle Times reported:

Models showed a tsunami following a magnitude 7.5 quake would inundate Seattle’s shoreline under more than 20 feet of water, and reach parts of Bainbridge Island, Elliott Bay and Alki Point within 3 minutes.

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The new study used newer data on topography and elevation, spanning a larger area, than did previous studies of the Seattle, Tacoma and Everett areas published in 2003, 2009 and 2014 respectively.

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In the study, researchers from the department’s Washington Geological Survey division used projections modeled after the last major earthquake under the Seattle fault — a magnitude 7.5 that occurred about 1,100 years ago — to estimate the height, arrival time and inland reach of a subsequent tsunami if, or when, the disaster repeats itself.

The department also tweeted a simulation and released videos of simulated effects of an earthquake and tsunami:

NEW: A simulation of the impact of a ~7.5-magnitude earthquake on the Seattle Fault.

Tsunami waves could be as high as 42 feet at the Seattle Great Wheel and will reach inland as far as Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park. pic.twitter.com/y44PWHXQtv

— Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources (@waDNR) July 7, 2022

The new study is available here.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.