Posted on 10/15/2014 3:33:42 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
With several faults slicing through the San Francisco Bay Area, forecasting the next deadly earthquake becomes a question of when and where, not if.
Now researchers propose that four faults have built up enough seismic strain (stored energy) to unleash destructive earthquakes, according to a study published today (Oct. 13) in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
The quartet includes the Hayward Fault, the Rodgers Creek Fault, the Green Valley Fault and the Calaveras Fault. While all are smaller pieces of California's San Andreas Fault system, which is more than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) long, the four faults are a serious threat because they directly underlie cities. [Photo Journal: The Gorgeous San Andreas Fault]
"The Hayward Fault is just right in the heart of where people live, and the most buildings and the most infrastructure," said Jim Lienkaemper, lead study author and a research geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park, California. "But it's not just one fault, it's the whole shopping basket. If you are in the middle of the Bay Area, you are near a whole lot of faults, and I'm concerned about all of them."
Lienkaemper and his colleagues gauged the potential for destructive earthquakes by monitoring tiny surface shifts along California faults. Certain faults are in constant motion, creeping steadily by less than 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) each year. These slow movements add up over time, cracking sidewalk curbs and buildings. They also serve as clues to what's happening deep below ground, where earthquakes strike.
"If you figure out where faults are creeping, it tells you where they're locked and how much they're locked," Lienkaemper told Live Science.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Finally some good news!
**grin**
Invite Zero back for another fund raiser at the date of highest possibility.
Meanwhile Bush's Fault shows no signs of slowing down.
Pity the Bay Area if the Big One hits while Obama is in office
I see the Mods removed the fault map that I had posted. Go to the link at the original Live Science article for a very good map of the pertinent faults.
Queers and Dykes hardest Hit !
If THAT happens, it will put a whole new spin on the term ‘cluster f^%k’
And it will have “O’s” name ALL OVER IT-because it’s what he does best! :)
I’m from the bay area and have family and good friends there. That is not good news.
Yup, still failing to see why I should care about the ‘problem’. Everyone knows CA is subject to massive earthquakes and those who live there have accepted the risk.
Probably removed because it sucked up too much bandwidth from the FR site/servers.........
FR doesn’t host pictures. So bandwidth or storage space was not the issue.
Probably copyright...
yawn
potential for destructive earthquakes
Has there ever been a “constructive earthquake” anywhere?
I'm sure the FReepers on the front lines of California appreciate your concern.
None of the four faults go through San Francisco.
They go through Oakland, San Jose and Napa. While Oakland is deeply liberal, San Jose and Napa are much less so (perhaps 40% republican).
It’s not the retribution that you’re hoping for.
“Finally some good news!”
You took the words right out of my head.
LOL! That was good. Thanks for the laugh this morning!
If there is a quake on the Calaveras Fault, the frogs will be jumping.
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