Newly discovered fault line along San Andreas could unleash major California earthquake
California may experience a massive earthquake along a newly discovered fault line, researchers announced Tuesday.
A study released
by the U.S Geological Survey warns that a 7.4-magnitude earthquake
could strike along the San Andreas Fault — which could impact about 20
million Los Angeles and San Diego residents.
“You expect that amount of accumulation of energy will be released in
the future in a large-magnitude rupture, somewhere along the San
Andreas,” USGS research geologist Kate Scharer said, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The fault runs underwater from San Diego, through Orange County to the Los Angeles basin, researchers said.
Movement detected on both sides of San Andreas fault
Experts who studied the site near Frazier Mountain concluded earthquakes happen on an average 100 years.
The 1933 Long Beach, Calif. earthquake claimed 120 lives.
(H.M. Engle/AP)
The Fort Tejon 7.9-magnitude earthquake in 1857 was the last major
earthquake to occur along the San Andreas Fault, which killed two
people.
If another earthquake was to strike, the impact could resemble that of
the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which devastated Los Angeles and
reportedly cost $42 billion in damages.
A report released in November states that the earthquake could damage at least 3.5 million homes and cost a whopping $289 billion to repair damages.
San Andreas fault ‘ready to go,’ expert warns of major earthquake
Other earthquakes with a magnitude between 5 and 6 could also “have a major impact in those regions,” Scharer said.
The Long Beach earthquake occured on the Newport-Inglewood fault.
(T.J. Maher/AP)
The 1933 Long Beach earthquake occurred on the Newport-Inglewood fault with a magnitude of 6.4 that resulted in 120 deaths.
Researchers urge residents not to panic, but to prepare in case of seismic activity.
"Large, but less damaging earthquakes, like magnitude 7.5, may be the
more typical type of occurrence along this stretch of the fault," Robert
Graves, a USGS geophysicist, said.
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