Turkey's fault line is similar to faults under Puget Sound

Over 7,000 people are dead after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook southern Turkey, near the Turkish-Syrian border.

Harold Tobin, a researcher at the University of Washington and director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, says the fault line that caused this disaster is similar to the faults under Puget Sound. The Seattle Fault, the Tacoma Fault, and the South Whidbey Island Fault are all shallow in the earth’s crust and are near large population centers, according to Tobin.

Tobin added these faults are different from “the big one," the earthquake locals dread when they worry about the earth shaking in the Northwest.

“The big one” would come from an earthquake originating in the offshore Cascadia subduction fault. Tobin says offshore faults tend to cause bigger earthquakes and are a larger tsunami risk. With inland, Puget Sound faults, like the Seattle Fault, the risk is comparatively smaller.