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San Andreas Fault, prompting fears of major quake

1,900 views · Published 22 June 2016 · 3:07 · Indexed 4 November 2026

Channel: Real Thing TV · 2016 · News & Politics

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WHEN NOT IF: 'Large-scale movement' on San Andreas Fault, prompting fears of major quake
SCIENTISTS have revealed they have detected "large scale movement" within the San Andreas fault line, prompting fears a mega quake could be on its way.

There is consensus among scientists that a magnitude seven or eight earthquake is overdue on the 800-mile fault that runs through California, because there has not been a significant one since the 7.9 Big One that hit California in 1857, 159 years ago. 

Earthquake expert Trevor Nace said: "In earthquake prediction, geologists work in probability distributions rather than absolute terms. Consensus is growing, however, of the likelihood of a large and devastating earthquake to strike California."

News of the movement detected has led to fears strain in the fault line could be building for another severe tremor.

It was already feared a big one could be brewing after a series of magnitude three and above earthquakes stuck in California in the past fortnight.

The latest came yesterday when a shallow magnitude three earthquake was reported three miles from Big Bear Lake, according to the US Geological Survey, at 9.21pm local time.

It is feared when it goes, around 140,000 people could be killed and many more injured, and it will be the US's worst natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina.

But the new study, published in the journal Nature Geosciences, could help scientists use smaller lobes of vertical motion to predict when more significant ruptures are likely to happen, possibly giving more warning.

For the study, geologists analysed GPS data to reveal new areas of motion around the San Andreas Fault System.

The top diagram shows the movement, with areas of uplift in red and those of subsidence in blue.

Using data collected by the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory's GPS array, researchers identified 125-mile-wide "lobes" of uplift and subsidence.

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