The Tintina geological flaw approximately 1000 km long, located in the territory of Yukon, could present a seismic danger which can cause earthquakes of a magnitude of at least 7.5 in the region.
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Asleep for 12,000 years, the Tintina flaw, which extends from Alaska to northwest of British Columbia, accumulates tensions, revealed Canadian researchers in a study published in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Using new topographic data and Lidar by Drone technology, the researchers were able to identify a 130 km long segment, in which they were able to analyze indices in the formation of the surface of the fault.
These clues revealed an intense seismic activity phase between 2.6 million years and 132,000 years before our era.
These scientific observations were made possible because, despite its location in northern Canada, the studied area is among the rare territories not having been covered with ice during the last glacial periods, thus allowing the preservation of old seismic activity clues along the flaw.
The conservation of ruptures in the surface of the fault therefore makes it possible to provide precious indications on its future seismic potential.
These indications have also revealed that the fault has been calm for 12,000 years now.
But this calm is worrying according to the researchers who believe that it could be at the end of the seismic cycle, which has important implications for seismic risk.
In fact, the fault continues to accumulate deformation at an average rate of 0.2 to 0.8 mm per year.
Despite a fairly low sliding rate, the flaw still has the potential to produce major earthquakes, not to take light, warn the researchers.
Significant consequences for the region
The researchers point to the “advanced stadium of deformation of deformation” which puts pressure on the fault, which could cause a great risk of earthquakes in the Yukon, but also in Alaska.
Dawson City, this village of around 1600 inhabitants, which is located less than 20 km from the fault, would be mainly impacted by the tremors of a possible earthquake.
If, as the researchers predict it, an earthquake of a magnitude of 7.5 raged, the roads and the nearby mines would be damaged.
An earthquake of such magnitude could also cause landslides in the Klondike region, already subject to instability.
The sites of the moosehide shift and the shift of Sunnydale could be particularly affected by other shifts because of their fragility.