The ocean floor off the Pacific Northwest has a spring, Pythia's Oasis, which is venting water from beneath local tectonic plates.

The water from the spring is acting as a lubricant between the two plates colliding at the fault.

Losing too much of the water from the spring could increase the likelihood of a damaging earthquake.

The spring was accidentally discovered by a graduate student, Brendan Philip, who spotted the bubbles that the spring carried to the surface.

A study on the vent was released by Philip and the rest of the research team from the University of Washington earlier this year.

The water in the reserve most likely needs to stay there, as too much seeping out of the fault could put parts of the U.S. at higher risk of an earthquake.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a large strike-slip fault where two tectonic plates meet and slide alongside each other.

The reserve of water bubbling up from Pythia's Oasis acts as lubrication between these two plates.

If stress starts to build up and the system has to jerk into a new position, the jerk triggers an earthquake, most likely a big one.

Monitoring geologic activity and how it changes is one of our best routes for preparing for natural disasters.

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