Great Earthquakes of the Pacific Northwest
What it is
Geologist Nick Zentner of Central Washington University gives an hour-long public lecture on the great earthquakes of the Pacific Northwest, including the Cascadia subduction zone and the evidence for past megaquakes. It is part of his Downtown Geology Lecture Series, recorded in Ellensburg in 2016.
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters offer it as a dry but fascinating, hype-free introduction to Cascadia earthquake risk and the evidence for past events.
- 5 people recommended it
- 5 different months
- 3 strong recommendations
- first 2020, last 2025
What HN commenters said
“Here is an excellent lecture on the subject from CWU professor Nick Zenter.”
Enthralling lecture by Nick Zentner on Cascadia
breakyerself, 2021-05 · Strong recommendation · in “1700 Cascadia Earthquake”
“I actually found him from his Cascadia Earthquake video”
Introduced commenter to Nick Zentner's geology lectures
pests, 2024-03 · Strong recommendation · in “Why star dunes are rarely recognised in the rock record”
“It's better than most TV if you've got the time.”
70-minute lecture on PNW earthquakes by a great geology communicator
OgsyedIE, 2025-03 · Strong recommendation · in “Orphan tsunami of 1700–Japanese clues to a parent earthquake in America (2015)”
“This is a good introduction if you want to know more”
Introduction to evidence for past Cascadia megaquake timeline
01100011, 2020-11 · Recommendation · in “Disaster prepping is mainstream again”
“There's an hour long presentation from CWU [2] that's dry but fascinating, and pretty free of popsci FUD.”
Hour-long dry but fascinating presentation, free of popsci FUD
RickS, 2024-10 · Recommendation · in “Washington's 'forgotten giant' volcano stirs”
Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.
Topics: cascadia, megathrust, pacific northwest, geology, paleoseismology, nick zentner
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