Earthquake fault heightens California tsunami threat, experts say

L A Times ^ | Rong-Gong Lin II

[BenLurkin]

The earthquake fault cuts through the heart of Ventura's quaint downtown, past the ornate hilltop City Hall and historic Spanish-era mission before heading into the Pacific Ocean..

For decades, some seismic experts believed the Ventura fault posed only a moderate threat and was incapable of producing a major temblor.

But research in recent years shows that the fault is extremely dangerous, capable of producing an earthquake as large as magnitude 8 as well as severe tsunamis that until now experts didn't believe were possible from a Southern California quake.

Such a big earthquake on the fault estimated to occur every 400 to 2,400 years, experts said. The last sizable quake on the Ventura area hit about 800 years ago. Large temblors occur on this fault less frequently than on the San Andreas fault, which has long been considered the state's most dangerous.

The California Geological Survey is studying whether it needs to revise tsunami hazard maps because of the researchers' findings. One study found that the inundation would be "severe right along the coast" but didn't call for redrawing evacuation zones farther inland.

"We're not done looking at it," said Rick Wilson, a California Geological Survey senior engineering geologist. "If new information comes forward, we'll change the lines to make sure the communities are as safe as possible."

[BenLurkin]

[EQAndyBuzz]

Global warming. Now tell us how you plan on fixing this with a 100 billion dollars.

[Gaffer]

I guess the stoners in California would look at it as the “Big Wave”....plenty good surfin’

[Gaffer]

Escalators!!!!! One billion each!

[exnavy]

“Experts” are amazing. Simple conclusion from a simple man: major earthquakes can happen anywhere, anytime.

[Cold Heart]

We (Pac NW)get a lot of our petroleum products from that areas refineries as well as food. People don’t realize they need to prep for what is happening in another part of the country.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Probably the greatest threat to California is if the Hawaiian Big Island had a partial collapse.

[FrankR]

Well, they’ve been crying for WATER, haven’t they?

[markman46]

took a while to read through to find out what type of fault this on is a thrust fault, the one plate is pushing under the other.. now that would cause a really big quake

[pas]

Can it tip over like Guam. That would be really bad.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

There are several possibilities. Mauna Loa is 4,169 meters above sea level, and 5,000 meters below, with one ocean flank close to vertical. Think of that gigantic, below sea wall, being pressured from within. If it bursts... Here are the volcanoes of the Big Island. http://i.imgur.com/Fz4zsQX.png Interestingly enough, Mauna Loa and the more active Kīlauea do not share a magma pool, so erupt independently from each other. But the much more massive Mauna Loa is slumping eastward along its southwestern rift zone, leveraging its mass into Kīlauea and driving the latter eastward at a rate of about 4 inches per year.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

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