Tree Ring Correlation Between Prehistoric Landslides and Abrupt Tectonic Events in Seattle, Washington

1992/12/04 by Gordon C. Jacoby, Patrick Williams, Brendan M. Buckley · 6 citations
Environmental Science · Engineering · #Landslides and related hazards #Tree Root and Stability Studies #Fire effects on ecosystems #Radiocarbon dating #Landslide #Geology #Dendrochronology #Shore #Prehistory #Subsidence #Archaeology #Seismology #Physical geography #Paleontology #Geography #Oceanography #Structural basin

paper · doi:10.1126/science.258.5088.1621

openalex publication_date 1992/12/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

Radiocarbon ages of submerged trees on landslide deposits in Lake Washington, Seattle, indicate that the most recent slides in three separate areas may have occurred simultaneously about 1000 years ago. Tree ring crossdating shows that seven bark-bearing trees from one of these recent slides and a tree 23 kilometers to the northwest in a probable tsunami deposit on the shore of Puget Sound died in the same season of the same year. The close coincidence among the most recent lake landslides, a probable tsunami, abrupt subsidence, and other possible seismic events gives evidence for a strong prehistoric earthquake in the Seattle region.

Citations

• Prehistoric Rock Avalanches in the Olympic Mountains, Washington

Cited by

• A Tsunami About 1000 Years Ago in Puget Sound, Washington
• Abrupt Uplift Within the Past 1700 Years at Southern Puget Sound, Washington
• Paleoearthquakes in the Puget Sound Region Recorded in Sediments from Lake Washington, U.S.A
• Late Holocene earthquakes on the Toe Jam Hill fault, Seattle fault zone, Bainbridge Island, Washington
• Seismic reflection images beneath Puget Sound, western Washington State: The Puget Lowland thrust sheet hypothesis
• Seattle Fault [wikipedia]