Published on Jul. 21, 2025, 7:11 PM
Researchers found high-resolution evidence of a future earthquake threat.
The Tintina, a major geologic fault that extends 1,000 km northwestward across much of the Yukon Territory, was thought to have been inactive for at least 40 million years, but new research led by a team at the University of Victoria (UVic) finds evidence of “numerous large earthquakes”, suggesting additional earthquakes could occur in the future.
The team used high-resolution images from satellites, airplanes, and drones. They found a 130-km-long fault segment near Dawson City, suggesting seismic activity in the Quaternary Period, dating from 2.6 million years ago to today.
“Over the past couple of decades, there have been a few small earthquakes of magnitude 3 to 4 detected along the Tintina fault, but nothing to suggest it is capable of large ruptures,” Theron Finley, recent UVic PhD graduate and lead author of the recent article, says in a statement.
“The expanding availability of high-resolution data prompted us to re-examine the fault, looking for evidence of prehistoric earthquakes in the landscape.”
Canada’s current understanding of earthquake frequency and risk is limited to the last couple of hundred years, the authors say, and it is comprised of data derived from Indigenous records, historical archives, and modern technology.
“However, for many active faults, thousands of years can elapse between large ruptures,” the authors say in a statement.