4 Northern California faults primed

[DrLeftover]

13 Oct

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Three fault segments running beneath Northern California and its roughly 15 million people are overdue for a major earthquake, including one section that lies near the dams and canals that supply much of the state's water, according to a geological study published Monday.

The three fault segments and one other in the region are loaded with enough tension to produce quakes of magnitude 6.8 or greater, according to a geological study published Monday.

They include the little-known Green Valley fault, which lies near key dams and aqueducts northeast of San Francisco. Underestimated by geologists until now, the fault running between the cities of Napa and Fairfield is primed for a magnitude-7.1 quake, according to researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and San Francisco State University.

The water supplies of the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California and the farm-rich Central Valley depend on the man-made water system that links to the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, noted James Lienkaemper, the U.S. Geological Survey geologist who was lead author of the study. The Green Valley fault is last believed to have ruptured sometime in the 1600s.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_QUAKE_THREAT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-13-17-02-14

 

[Dee]

They've been saying that since well before I was born and lived there over 30 years ago, so I'm not surprised they keep talking about it as it is inevitable. Yes, it is going to happen. Earthquakes happen all up and down the west coast, especially in California on a daily basis, but we still cannot predict when an earthquake will strike and what magnitude it will be. The only thing they can do is prepare for it. Reinforce important structures like police and fire stations, hospitals, city services like power infrastructure, water, sewage, and roads. It's a matter of what can we do today BEFORE anything happens and stop saying, "Well, it's gonna happen and we know it, we're well overdue for another big one!"

 

[DrLeftover]

And yet, when it does happen, CNN will manage to find somebody who will say, "we weren't warned that it could happen here".

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I'm a California resident and not too concerned. Earthquake threats are a part of life & it doesn't really phase me anymore. The ones I have experienced were mild, I think I'm a good distance from the faults, maybe that's why.

 

[DrLeftover]

Oh?

California
Seismic Hazard Map

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/?region=California

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Maybe our buidlings here are just really strong, or something.

There's a never ending amount of seismic activity and mini earthquakes going on 24/7, but not big enough to bother anyone.

 

[DrLeftover]

Those small ones are from the continual slipping of the active faults.

Like the article said, when a fault is "stuck", then you have problems.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Well if I disappear one day and stop logging in, maybe its because I'm trapped under some rubble.

*Knock on wood*

 

[Dee]

And yet, when it does happen, CNN will manage to find somebody who will say, "we weren't warned that it could happen here".

That is their fault, not anyone else's. I remember going to school and having earthquake drills. We were required to bring earthquake preparedness kits with non-parishable foods, fireproof blankets, batteries, and water in case we got stuck there and our parents couldn't come get us. At the end of the year, we'd be able to eat our packs if an earthquake never happened.

Heck, I was in the Northridge earthquake when it went off in 1994 and that one was pretty devastating even for a 6.7 on the Richter scale. The fact of the matter is that they're trying to scare people in hopes that they'll be prepared, which I understand, but there comes a time when talking and scaring doesn't work anymore and when precautions actually need to be taken.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Heh, I remember those earthquake drills too. XD

 

[Dee]

Heh, I remember those earthquake drills too. XD

They were more prominent in my mind than your typical fire drill. They would even test the air raid sirens every so often in case of a tsunami, and I lived on the coast in Huntington Beach, so we were more vulnerable to that kind of thing considering we were no more than a 5 minute drive down Brookhurst to the beach.