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Podcasts Take Two
Study shows massive California-wide earthquake not unlikely
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Jan 10, 2013
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Study shows massive California-wide earthquake not unlikely
For a long time geologists believed it was unlikely that a massive quake in say, San Diego could reach all the way to San Francisco.But a new study published by the journal Nature says that kind of mega-quake isn't out of the question.
Research Geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Brad Aagaard, shows members of the media a series of images that illustrate how shock waves from an expected catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake on the San Andreas Fault would likely fan out across southern California, at the three-day Los Angeles International Earthquake Conference on November 12, 2008 in Los Angeles. Dark red indicates the most extreme shaking of the Earth while blue represents little to no movement. The demonstration comes on the eve of the Great Southern California ShakeOut Drill which is to be the largest earthquake preparedness drill in US history. An estimated 5.2 million people in Southern California are expected to participate in a scenario in which 1,800 people die, 53,000 people are injured,1,500 buildings collapse, 1,600 fires ignite, and $213 billion in damage are done by a quake 50 times more intense than the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Scientist believe that on average, a massive earthquake occurs south of the San Gabriel Mountains about every 150 years. The last one was at least 300 years ago.
Research Geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Brad Aagaard, shows members of the media a series of images that illustrate how shock waves from an expected catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake on the San Andreas Fault would likely fan out across southern California.
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David McNew/Getty Images
)

For a long time geologists believed it was unlikely that a massive quake in say, San Diego could reach all the way to San Francisco.But a new study published by the journal Nature says that kind of mega-quake isn't out of the question.

For a long time geologists believed it was unlikely that a massive quake in say, San Diego could reach all the way to San Francisco.

But a new study published by the journal Nature says that kind of mega-quake isn't out of the question.

Here to explain is Kate Hutton, a seismologist with the California Institute of Technology.