PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregonians have long known that a major earthquake could devastate the region in the next 50 years, but a new study suggests the impact could have implications for the entire country.

Researchers suspect that when the large Cascadia earthquake does occur, it could coincide with another quake along the northern San Andreas fault, according to a new study from Oregon State University.

"We’re used to hearing the 'Big One' – Cascadia – being this catastrophic huge thing," said Chris Goldfinger, a marine geologist at Oregon State University and lead author of the study. "It turns out it’s not the worst-case scenario."

Instead, the worst-case scenario could be two major West Coast faults synchronizing, overwhelming emergency resources at the same time.

"We could expec

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