A study presented in March speculated that the “Big One” will be devastating; experts suggest implementing an early warning system.
It measures 1,300 kilometers. It crosses the state of California from north to south, with displacement between the North American plate and the Pacific plate… this is the ‘San Andreas fault”, the most feared and dangerous in the world.
According to the studies carried out on this extension, it is a reference to tragedy, panic, and terror… two factors have contributed to this: The devastating earthquake of San Francisco that occurred in 1906 and the fact that the fault covers the entire state of California, one of the most populated in the world.
The director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, Thomas Jordan, warns that it is “loaded and ready to shake.” Jordan referred to the great earthquake in Southern California in 1857. A shock of 7.9 on the Ritcher scale, after 159 years of apparent tranquility, for Thomas, the time is approaching for a major earthquake.
According to a 2008 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake was warned of originating in the southern region of the San Andreas fault, which could cause more than 1,800 deaths, 50,000 injuries, and $200 billion in damage.
For the experts, it is now essential that the authorities take the implementation of an earthquake early warning system seriously.
A study presented in March speculated that the “Big One” or “great earthquake” being announced for Southern California could be more devastating than previously thought.
When will it happen?
The information we scientists are working with, indicates that the southern end of the San Andreas fault is where a large earthquake is most likely to occur in the next 30 years.” So says Jennifer Andrews, a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in conversation with BBC Mundo.
The middle part of the fault ruptured about 160 years ago, and the northern part in 1906 caused the San Francisco earthquake. The southern part of the fault has not ruptured in about three centuries, and we know that the stress has been building up during this time.
TYT Newsroom