The Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific Northwest has a history of producing powerful and destructive earthquakes that have sunk forests and spawned tsunamis that reached all the way to the shores of Japan. The Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific Northwest has a history of producing powerful and destructive earthquakes that have sunk forests and spawned tsunamis that reached all the way to the shores of Japan. Earth Sciences Phys.org – latest science and technology news stories