One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Videos: Watch Los Angeles Get Destroyed Twice By Two Simulated "Big-Ones"
Yah, yah. The big one is coming, it will be bad, you're definitely not prepared, but you absolutely know you should be. Quotes from earthquake experts saying the San Andreas is "locked, loaded, and ready to roll," somehow, aren't persuasive enough for you to put aside a few days worth of food and water in preparation for the inevitable cataclysm that will knock down all the dingbats, and de-commission the sewers for six months.
But maybe, just maybe, the above video will.
Put together by the Southern California Earthquake Center, the above animation demonstrates the shaking produced by a hypothetical (enormous) 8.0 earthquake that ruptures several hundred miles of the San Andreas between Monterey County and South California. If you watch closely, you can see the Los Angeles Basin (and the Valley, and the SGV) are hit particularly hard. This is because L.A. sits upon large deposits of soft soil, as the L.A. Times points out. What made the land great for growing oranges back in the 1930s and 40s also makes it a great echo-chamber for seismic shockwaves. The effect is, essentially, that the land L.A. sits on top of will continue vibrating even after the earthquake's main shockwaves pass.
This second video portrays the ever-famous "Shakeout Scenario," where Southern California is jolted by a 7.8 earthquake originating somewhere near the Salton Sea. Severe shaking in both of these situations would last more than two minutes, especially in the L.A. basin and surrounding flat areas.
It's no secret Southern California is up for an earthquake sometime soon. The first animation depicts an earthquake scenario that has happened multiple times throughout geological history, usually with a frequency of about once every 150 years. The last time the plates in this area produced an earthquake was in 1857, precisely 159 years ago. 😨
Sponsored message
The second video shows an earthquake that is "likely to hit Southern California sometime in the next 30 years," according to the United States Geological Survey. It's important to note that the two videos depict rupturing along the same fault line, just with different origins.
Either of these earthquakes would be devastating for Southern California. The shakeout scenario predicts approximately 1,800 deaths, and approximately $300 billion in damages.
So yeah, you should probably get those earthquake kits ready now, especially since you can probably guess what will happen to grocery stores after the big one hits.
[h/t L.A. Times]
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
