Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
The existence of public databases adds an obligation to some authors to deposit data. The situation with research materials is less clear-cut. It is time, nevertheless, for a change in Nature's policies.
Although quiet this century, the Cascadia subduction zone has produced big earthquakes in the past. But how big? An ingenious study involving documents written 300 years ago suggests that they can be giants.