Large Surface‐Rupturing Earthquakes and a >12 kyr, Open Interseismic Interval on the Tintina Fault

The Tintina fault is a major ∼1,000‐km‐long geologic fault in the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada, previously believed to have last been active around 40 million years ago, but speculated to remain capable of generating large earthquakes. Using new high‐resolution topographic data collected from satellites, airplanes, and drones, we have identified a 130‐km‐long segment of the fault where 2.6 million‐year‐old, and 132 thousand‐year‐old geological formations are laterally shifted across the fault by ∼1,000 and 75 m, respectively. From this, we surmise that the Tintina fault has ruptured in numerous large earthquakes in the recent geologic past, and continues to accumulate strain at an average rate of 0.2–0.8 mm/yr. We further show that the fault has not ruptured in a major earthquake for at least 12 thousand years, and could generate an earthquake of at least magnitude 7.5 in the future. The Tintina fault therefore represents an important, previously unrecognized, seismic hazard to the region....