Is California about to be hit by the ‘Big One’? Fears of a massive earthquake rise after 134 mini-tremors rattle the San Andreas fault in just one week

 

Is California about to be hit by the ‘Big One’? Fears of a massive earthquake rise after 134 mini-tremors rattle the San Andreas fault in just one week

  • The earthquakes hammered a 3-mile stretch of the San Andreas fault
  • Seventeen were stronger than 2.5 magnitude and six were stronger than 3.0
  • It follows a string of ten tremors that struck Monterey County last week
  • The largest, a 4.6-magnitude quake, was felt in San Francisco 90 miles away

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.

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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)

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)

WHAT IS THE BIG ONE?

The ‘Big One’ is a hypothetical earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater that is expected to happen along the San Andreas fault.

Such a quake is expected to produce devastation to human civilisation within about 50-100 miles (80-160km) of the quake zone, especially in urban areas like Palm Springs, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Contingency plans warn upward of 14,000 people could die in worst-case scenarios, with 30,000 injured, thousands left homeless and the region’s economy setback for years, if not decades.

‘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

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