It was probably a fairly good shake that was pretty alarming,” Elliott said. ![]() Living on a relatively high floor of a building in San Francisco “may have certainly amplified the experience - compared to neighbors and other friends around me who did not feel the earthquake,” Elliott said during the news briefing.įor people in the Bay Area, “this one - because of its distance - was probably more perceptible in places that really amplify the slow, distant waves - and so, like the high building that I’m in,” he said.īut in places such as Reno or Carson City, Nev., “this was a much stronger jolt through there. Dog ran around a bit,” he wrote on Twitter. People living on top of basin sediments and soft soils are at higher risk of feeling amplified shaking from a distant quake, whereas people living on bedrock, a hillside or a ridge are less likely to feel it.Įlliott, who was in San Francisco when Thursday’s quake hit, said he felt strong shaking. It’s expected for a quake of this magnitude to be felt broadly across the state, Elliott said. There have been a couple of dozen earthquakes larger than magnitude 5 in the region of Thursday’s quake in the last 50 years. Thursday’s earthquake was the largest in the region since the magnitude 6.1 Double Spring Flat earthquake in 1994 in sparsely populated western Nevada, which was felt from Sacramento to Elko, Nev., but did not result in loss of life. Here’s a basic primer on the science of earthquakes. ![]() Though it’s difficult to predict the exact timing of when earthquakes will strike or what their magnitude will be, researchers are encouraging residents and local officials to prepare now and retrofit structures to withstand seismic force before the next significant quake – or the “Big One” – strikes.California How earthquakes happen: The science of a shakeīefore we can prepare for the Big One, we have to know what “one” is. It’s not likely that this week’s earthquakes will trigger the “Big One” geologists warn about – at its closest point, the San Andreas fault zone is more than 150 miles away from the Mojave Desert, USGS seismologist Susan Hough told CNN affiliate KTLA. Recent quakes probably won’t trigger the ‘Big One’ The last major quake to occur along the San Andreas fault zone was in 1906, when a 7.9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent fire leveled parts of San Francisco and killed 3,000 people, the deadliest in US history.īut going more than 100 years without major seismic activity along the fault zone is an anomaly, geologists say, and could portend a massive earthquake along the infamous fault. The fault zone isn’t a single line, but a system of faults that snake throughout California, including populous areas such as Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Here, the plates grind past each other horizontally at a rate of about 2 inches per year, and the slight motion can cause a few smaller shocks and tremors. The San Andreas fault zone is an 800-mile boundary between the Pacific tectonic plate to the west and the North American plate to the east. Pressure builds up until stress overcomes friction, creating a sudden release of energy that sends seismic waves through the ground, called earthquakes. ![]() Though the motion is typically unnoticeable to the naked eye, rocks continue to push but get stuck on each other’s edges. Here’s what you need to know about that massive fault zone and what it means for future California quakes.įault lines occur where rocks on two sides push against or slide past each other, displacing the earth’s crust. In light of this week’s quakes, USGS researchers are reiterating their prediction that there’s a 70% chance an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.7 or higher will strike the San Francisco Bay area along the San Andreas fault zone before 2030. Those earthquakes occurred along a fault centered near Ridgecrest, California, but it reminded geologists of the looming danger of another major quake along the imposing San Andreas fault zone to the west, which could cause significantly more damage. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images) Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty ImagesĢ earthquakes in 2 days: Comparing the quakes No fatalities or serious injuries have been reported from this second quake, the largest in Southern California in more than two decades. Emergency rescue crews fanned out Saturday to assess damage from the second powerful earthquake to hit Southern California in as many days - a 7.1 magnitude tremor that revived fears of the so-called Big One the region has feared for decades. Firefighters battle an electrical fire in a mobile home park in Ridgecrest, California, on Jfollowing a magnitude 7.1 earthquake on July 5.
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