The Cascadia earthquake, which strikes at approximately 9 PM on January 26, 1700, is one of the largest earthquakes known, rupturing the Cascadia subduction zone offshore from Vancouver Island spreading along more than six hundred miles (nine hundred and sixty-six kilometers) of North America's West Coast to Cape Mendocino in northern California.

The magnitude of the earthquake is estimated as between 8.7 and 9.2.

Houses in First Nations communities on Vancouver Island collapse and an entire village on its west coast is destroyed with no survivors.

The earthquake triggers an Orphan Tsunami, which hits Japan approximately ten hours later and is recorded as flooding fields and washing away houses.