L.A.’s quake mystery: 2024 brings the most seismic activity in decades. Why now?

Los Angeles Times ^ | Oct. 10, 2024 3 AM PT | Rong-Gong Lin II, Staff Writer

[E. Pluribus Unum]

It’s not your imagination: The ground beneath Southern California has been particularly unsteady as of late, with the region experiencing more moderate-sized earthquakes this year than it has in decades.

What precisely is fueling the sequence of shakers is not entirely clear, and officials warn that prior seismic activity does not necessarily mean more powerful temblors are imminent. But the series of modest shakers have many wondering what is going on.

“Earthquakes pop off around the state, and it’s a little bit like popcorn that they hit — sometimes they bunch up for reasons that we don’t understand,” said Susan Hough, seismologist for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Where the quakes are

By the count of seismologist Lucy Jones, a Caltech research associate, Southern California has felt 15 independent seismic sequences this year, with at least one magnitude 4 or higher earthquake. That’s the highest annual total in the last 65 years, surpassing the 13 seen in 1988.

• The most recent — a magnitude 4 — struck before dawn Sunday near Ontario International Airport. Just in Ontario, one of the most populous cities in San Bernardino County, there have been five earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher over the past month.
  
• The Malibu area has been another hot spot. There was a magnitude 4.6 earthquake on Feb. 9, strong enough to toss items off a counter; and a magnitude 4.7 on Sept. 12 — startling enough that the city’s mayor and his wife dove under their kitchen table.
  
• Eastside L.A. was rattled by a magnitude 4.4 earthquake centered in El Sereno on Aug. 12 and a magnitude 3.4 on June 2.
  
• A magnitude 5.2 earthquake, the strongest to strike the region in three years, shook Southern California on...
  

[Omnivore-Dan]

I think second on the list is a tossup between New York, Oregon, and Michigan. Washington State is another one in the basket of loonies, along with Massachusetts.

[Thank You Rush]

Maybe you can make a motor trip coast to coast sometime. Put it on your “bucket list”...remember “stop and smell the roses”. My husband and I drove from CA to OH several times - moved there once and back after a couple of years - and NEVER took the time to even see the Grand Canyon. “OH! Look - there’s the Grand Canyon.” We should have done more and before you realize it, you’ve run out of time.

[Omnivore-Dan]

Yes, well I am running out of time, and I’d love to do it, but have other priorities now.

[Thank You Rush]

Can’t give you advice and I know “time” has a way of getting to all of us. My husband and I made the move from CA when we were 70 when we retired and he was gone before his 85th birthday...Make it count is all I can say and I bet you have done that. Good luck and blessings...

[Gaffer]

Oh my! Just WHO is at ‘fault’ here? One day, eastern parts of California will become the new coastline and remnants of the old coast will be either under water or new islands like Catalina, etc.