Salton Sea poses big earthquake threat to Southern California

Some info after last EQ's in south CA at Salton Sea area ..

Also think stronger EQ will come from last EQ's of M 5.4, when I don't know for now but probably soon ..

Very dangerous area also months-years to California and West Coast for strong and catastrophic EQ ..

Thread: Three Earthquake in South California Around M 5.4 ..


Flooding of Ancient Salton Sea Linked to San Andreas Earthquakes

When its natural dimensions were in place, Lake Cahuilla and its surrounding region experienced in a 1,000-year period five earthquakes on the Southern San Andreas that are believed to have been larger than magnitude 7. The temblors occurred about 180 years apart. It's been more than 300 years since the last one.

"We've been baffled as to why the Southern San Andreas hasn't gone. It's been compared to a woman who is 15 months pregnant," said Scripps seismologist Debi Kilb, a report co-author. "Now this paper offers one explanation why."

The researchers cautioned that failure of the stepover faults is ultimately driven by tectonic forces and could still set off a major rupture of the San Andreas Fault independently of any lake level fluctuations. Other research teams have estimated that stress buildup in the area is still great enough to produce a quake between magnitude 7 and 8. The idea that the San Andreas is triggered by stress loading in the Salton Sea supports the assumption by many scientists that a future quake sequence could propagate northward and potentially cause significant damage in the Los Angeles area.

"Earthquake simulations reveal that shaking of large metropolitan areas such as Riverside and Los Angeles will be larger if the earthquake propagates from south to north -- our research suggests that the Salton Sea stepover zone may provide a trigger for such a propagation direction," said Scripps geologist Neal Driscoll, a report co-author.

[link to www.sciencedaily.com]

Last Edited by Rain-Man on 09/02/2012 07:24 PM