Their whole life, producer Hannah Chinn has known about the Big One: a massive earthquake forecasted to hit the West Coast. Scientists say it’ll destroy buildings, collapse bridges, flood coastal towns and permanently shift the landscape. But how exactly do scientists know this much about the scope of earthquakes if they can’t even predict when those earthquakes are going to happen? Together with host Emily Kwong, Hannah goes on a quest for answers. Plus, they get into what a Cascadia earthquake has in common with a Thanksgiving turkey.

This story is part of Nature Quest, our monthly segment that brings you a question from a Short Waver who is noticing a change in the world around them. Have an environment-based question you want us to investigate on the next Nature Quest? Email us your question at [email protected].

Check out our previous episode on earthquake prediction.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn and Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Kwesi Lee. Special thanks to scientists Paul Lundgren and Suzanne Carbotte.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy