Q: What can a archeologist or anthropologist find under a earthquake that will let them know that you lived there, if you and your family survived. Thanks
A: Most earthquakes take place deep underground. It's the effects that can be recoded. Tsunamis, uplift, subsidence, flooding, fires are examples. The San Francisco earthquake is documented with written records and film.You can understand the destructive and the aftermath. Along the Oregon- Washington coast there's remains of a forest. An earthquake caused the ground to sink and the salt water killed the trees. In these cases you have pre and post archeological evidence. A good example is a building that has been extensively rebuilt. That's evidence that it existed prior to the earthquake and people remained to rebuild it. While not an earthquake the Mazama volcanic eruption of 8,000 years ago showed a clear impact on human occupation. The ash plume left deposits many feet thick and for perhaps 200 years living in the region was impossible.