Geologists Warning That Southern California Is Overdue For a Major And Possibly Catastrophic Earthquake
Amber William
MyDailyInformer.com
April 26, 2017
Early Warning
The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) along with a coalition of State and university partners is developing and testing an earthquake early warning (EEW) for the west coast of the United States. Long term funding must be secured before the system can begin sending general public notifications, however, some limited pilot projects are active and more are being developed. The USGS has set the goal of beginning limited public notifications by 2018.
Geologists are out with a startling warning that Southern California is overdue for a major and possibly catastrophic earthquake. A new study says it’s expected to hit along the San Andreas Fault north of Los Angeles. It could have a magnitude of 7.5 or higher.
Southern California could be overdue for a major earthquake along the Grapevine north of Los Angeles, according to a sobering new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The research found earthquakes happen there on average every 100 years. The last major temblor occurred 160 years ago, a catastrophic geological event that ruptured an astonishing 185 miles of the San Andreas fault.
The land on either side of the fault has been pushing against the other at a rate of more than 1 inch a year since 1857, the researchers said, accumulating energy that will be suddenly released in a major earthquake, when the land along the fault would move by many feet.
“So you expect that amount of accumulation of energy will be released in the future in a large-magnitude rupture, somewhere along the San Andreas,” said the lead author of the study, USGS research geologist Kate Scharer.
There are no reports of damage. The quake hit just hours after the release of a disturbing new government report that shows seismic activity in parts of the country’s midsection are now as dangerous as in California and Alaska. For the first time, government scientists are including man-made quakes on its earthquake hazard map. CBS News science and futurist contributor Michio Kaku — also a physics professor at the City University of New York — joins “CBS This Morning” to explain the cause and dangers of the growing threat and preventive measures.
The Rest…HERE
