Fresh fears have been raised that a huge earthquake is about to hit California after a swarm of recent tremors.
In the last week 134 earthquakes have hammered a three-mile stretch around Monterey County on the San Andreas fault.
Of those earthquakes, 17 were stronger than 2.5 magnitude and six of them were stronger than 3.0, with more tremors expected in the coming weeks, experts warn.
It follows fears raised last week that the ‘Big One’ is about to hit after a series of ten ‘mini quakes’ struck the same area.
The swarm included one 4.6-magnitude quake that was felt in San Francisco more than 90 miles (145 km) away.
Scroll down for video
Since last week 134 earthquakes have hammered a three-mile stretch around Monterey County on the San Andreas fault which experts say is long overdue a ‘Big One’. Last week it suffered a 4.6-magnitude quake (pictured)
‘This one has been a quite productive aftershock sequence,’ said Ole Kaven, a US Geological Survey (USGS) seismologist.
‘We suspect there will be aftershocks in the 2 to 3 [magnitude] range for at least a few more weeks’, he said.
There have not been any reports of injuries, writes San Francisco news outlet SFGate.
Last week’s swarm hit California’s Monterey County on Monday at 11:31am ET (4:31pm GMT) about 13 miles (20 km) northeast of Gonzales, near Salinas.
It dramatically increases the likelihood of a major quake in California, at least temporarily, experts claimed.
The initial 4.6-magnitude quake was followed by nine smaller aftershocks.
The largest of these measured magnitude 2.8, Annemarie Baltay, a seismologist with the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, told SFGATE.
There were no reports of injuries or damage to buildings…..More Here