It’s like a plot from a Hollywood movie. A massive earthquake on one West Coast fault triggers other earthquakes far away, causing vast destruction over hundreds of miles.

A new study out Tuesday reveals the scenario might not be as far-fetched as previously thought.

Scientists from Oregon State University studying sediment layers in the Pacific Ocean have discovered that two of the most notorious faults on the West Coast — the San Andreas Fault in Northern California and the Cascadia Subduction Zone off Oregon and Washington — may be synchronized, with earthquakes on one fault having the potential to set off the other.

The study, published in the journal Geosphere, concluded that there are at least three instances in the past 1,500 years, including a most recent one from 1700, when the

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