Aerial view of San Andreas Fault, Sleepy Valley, California
California is not the state with the most and the biggest earthquakes. That honor goes to Alaska. California is no slouch in the earthquake department and will almost certainly have another "big one" within the next 30 years. Does this Spark an idea?
Plates and Faults
California sits on two plates, which are constantly moving: the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. Their boundary is the San Andreas Fault. California has hundreds of other faults. More than 200 of them are potentially dangerous.
The Next 'Big One'
In 2008, the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities calculated that there is a greater than 99 percent chance of a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake occurring in California within the next 30 years. For the same time, they calculated the likelihood of a 7.5 or larger magnitude quake in California was 46 percent and would be most likely to occur in the southern half of the state.
Current Earthquake Information
For the latest information on current earthquakes, see the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program website. If you felt a quake, you can report on the site how much shaking you felt and how much damage, if any, you saw. Your information is combined with that of other people reporting in your area and is displayed on a map, graph and chart.
Tags: Andreas Fault, California Earthquake, Earthquake Information, next years, within next, within next years
