all these california earthquakes lately, should we be concerned about a ‘big one’ ?
should we be concerned about a large earthquake on the san andreas fault between the salton sea and san bernardino any time soon? there are a lot of quakes lately in the surrounding area.
Southern California is one of the most seismically active places on earth, with numerous active faults. Unless you live within a few miles of the San Andreas, these smaller faults are the ones that can do the most damage if you’re nearby when one slips. The current level of quake activity is not unusual and does not indicate that a larger quake is about to occur. The best current estimate is that there is a 37% chance of a magnitude 7.5 or greater quake occurring somewhere in Southern California in the next 30 years. First link is to the current California quake probabilities, second is to the simulated mag-7.8 quake near the Salton Sea which was used in last year’s regional earthquake drill.
California Earthquake, be prepared!