California braces for possible third big earthquake as experts say there is a 10 PERCENT chance of one reaching 7.0 or higher in the next week – but there have already been more than 600 smaller quakes recorded in the area in 24 hours

California braces for possible third big earthquake as experts say there is a 10 PERCENT chance of one reaching 7.0 or higher in the next week – but there have already been more than 600 smaller quakes recorded in the area in 24 hours

• Ridgecrest sits about 10 miles from the epicenters of both tremors that hit 32 hours apart Thursday and Friday
• Following Friday’s event, Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones warned there is a 10 percent chance of another magnitude 7.0 or higher quake in the next week
• ‘The fault is growing,’ Jones explained, adding that it is now 25 to 30 miles long 
• Over the next week, Southern California has only a 27 percent chance of experiencing a third earthquake greater than magnitude 6, but a 96 percent chance of going through a tremor of magnitude 5 or higher 
• USGS mapped out approximately 600 quakes that hit the area just hours north of Los Angeles on Saturday
• Most registered between the 2 and 3.5 magnitude range, but there were plenty that got as high as 4.5. 
• The first earthquake measuring at magnitude 6.4 shook the city on Thursday morning 
• It was determined to be a foreshock to an even larger 7.1 temblor, Southern California’s largest in 20 years
• Compared to the first shock, the second was 11 times stronger, five times bigger and lasted longer 
• There have been more than 1,700 aftershocks recorded in the area since the first quake on Thursday morning
• There has been an average of one aftershock every minute since Friday’s quake in the southern part of the state, according to the United States Geological Survey website 

By Matthew Wright For Dailymail.com and Megan Sheets For Dailymail.com

California earthquake experts have indicated that there is a 10 percent chance of another magnitude 7.0 or higher quake hitting the same area in the southern part of the state that was already hit with two intense quakes.

Following Friday’s event, Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones warned there is a 10 percent chance of another magnitude 7.0 or higher quake in the next week.<

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‘The fault is growing,’ Jones explained to the Los Angeles Times, adding that it is now 25 to 30 miles long.

Over the next week, Southern California has only a 27 percent chance of experiencing a third earthquake greater than magnitude 6, but a 96 percent chance of going through a tremor of magnitude 5 or higher.

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 Following Friday’s intense quake, seismologist Lucy Jones warned there is a 10 percent chance of another magnitude 7.0 or higher quake in the next week. The aftermath of Friday’s earthquake in Ridgecrest

 Over the next week, Southern California has only a 27 percent chance of experiencing a third earthquake greater than magnitude 6, but a 96 percent chance of going through a tremor of magnitude 5 or higher

Those precise probabilities were generated by scientists at the United States Geological Survey (USGS), using models based on longstanding principles of seismic behavior and decades of data on aftershocks from earthquakes.

But the same predictive power does not extend to forecasting when and where earthquakes will strike in the first place, experts acknowledge.

‘Even if it’s a theoretical possibility, it may be a practical impossibility,’ said Andrew Michael, a California-based geophysicist at the USGS.

The USGS mapped out approximately 600 quakes that hit the area just hours north of Los Angeles on Saturday. Most registered between the 2 and 3.5 magnitude range, but there were plenty that got as high as 4.5.   ……..more here