Seismologists Grow Increasingly Concerned About Earthquake Activity in Southern California

Just this year alone, this region of the Golden State has experienced more earthquakes seen in quite a while. Seismologists have further opened up about what this could mean for Californians.

While these quakes weren’t massive by any means, they did prompt many Californians to realize that they’ve experienced more earthquakes this year than they have in a while.

Thanks to all of these recent quakes, seismologists such as Jones have been able to better analyze why SoCal has begun to see more earthquakes in recent years.

However, this earthquake took place less than a week after a 5.2-magnitude quake near Bakersfield.

By comparison, the last 20 years only had about five earthquakes each year that were of a 4.0 magnitude or higher in the same area.

She found that, since 1932, Southern California has experienced about 10 to 12 quakes each year, on average. These quakes all were 4.0 magnitudes or higher. Therefore, this year has seen more quakes than is common.

Scientists believe that the quakes are from the group of faults that also created the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake.

“There have been others in the past,” Jones explained. “In 1989, we had a pair of four-and-a-halfs that were also in the system that were just a half-hour apart. There have been plenty of small ones over the years that are also within this.”

The fault system lies about 25 miles below the streets of Los Angeles. A thrust fault like this occurs when compressional forces push one part of the Earth’s crust on top of another.

Seismologists have explained that there’s not necessarily any great way to predict massive quakes — even if we’re experiencing more smaller ones.

“The most constant feature of earthquakes is the relative number of large to small,” she said. “For every magnitude seven, you have 10 magnitude sixes, 100 magnitude fives, 1,000 magnitude fours, etc. So, if your rate of [magnitude] fours goes up, your chance of having a bigger one would go up by about the same amount.”

However, Dr Jones has clarified that this is not the case. She said the minor quakes do not relieve any pressure underground. In fact, small tremors indicate a buildup of tension beneath the Earth’s surface. “The most constant feature of earthquakes is the relative number of large to small,” Jones said.

Scientists predict the fault might unleash an earthquake as high as magnitude 7.5. This would devastate the city of Los Angeles.

According to the Ocean Conservancy, these oarfish are commonly believed to foreshadow “natural disasters, such as earthquakes or tsunamis.”

Only 20 oarfish sightings have been reported since 1901, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. The fish were seen around Japan during major earthquakes. In this case, there was an oarfish sighting just two days before the California earthquake on August 12.

The San Andreas fault has a major quake every few centuries. Its most recent earthquake was in 1857 at a magnitude of 7.8.

However, a quake of similar strength on the Puente Hills fault could claim up to 18,000 lives and cause more than $252 billion in damages.

The Cascadian fault line runs across all of the West Coast, including California. Researcher Kelin Wang said: “The recurrent interval for this subduction zone for big events is on the order of 500 years. It is quite late.” Wang said a significant quake from the Cascadian fault line is due.

Most notably, Japan experienced a quake that resulted in warnings of a “megaquake” being released. Meanwhile, Russia was also recently hit with an earthquake — one which set off a volcano eruption in the eastern part of the country.

For example, many buildings and homes have been built in recent years to not collapse during potential quakes.

Among these buildings are 100 hospitals and 2,000 schools. In Washington and Oregon alone, 14,000 lives would be at stake in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake, let alone surviving through the long-term damage.

Professor James Dolan at USC said: “People really need to be ready for a very, very large earthquake, or earthquakes in L.A.’s future. It’s going to happen. We don’t know when. We don’t know exactly which fault is going to generate those earthquakes, but they are going to happen.”

Precautions range from buying extra bottled water to securing spaces by fastening bookshelves to the walls. In spaces where people sleep, it is a good idea to remove furniture that could fall during a quake.

Dr Jones said preparedness means more than just having extra water. Jones said: “Having water is important, but talking with your friends and family about it and having a plan together is probably more important than anything else.”