By Kami Klein
This year at the 2016 National Earthquake Conference, Thomas Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, spoke a warning;
“The springs on the San Andreas system have been wound very, very tight. And the southern San Andreas fault, in particular, looks like it’s locked, loaded and ready to go,” Jordan said in his opening speech.
According to the L.A. Times, Scientists have observed that based on the movement of tectonic plates with the Pacific plate moving northwest of the North American plate, earthquakes should be relieving about 16 feet of accumulated plate movement every 100 years. Yet the San Andreas fault, roughly 700 miles long and ten miles deep, has not relieved stress that has been building up for more than a century.
In a 2008 U.S. Geological Survey report, if there was a 7.8 earthquake it would probably cause more than 2,000 deaths, 50,000 injuries, $200 billion in damage, and severe, long-lasting disruption. These numbers could climb with each damaging aftershock.
In information found on the San Andreas fault website, those who survive the immediate earthquake will find themselves in danger. The first thing they will need is water, but most water mains will probably have been broken. Utilities such as electricity, natural gas, gasoline, telephones, etc. will be interrupted for days, weeks or longer. Medical facilities will be jammed and unable to handle the casualties. Most people will not be able to get to the hospital because roads will be damaged. Banks will be closed, as will any organization that relies on the internet. Little, if any, food or medicine will reach the area, and radio/TV communications will be spotty at best. They recommend being prepared with all you would need to camp for two weeks. Water, food, tents, etc.
In an interesting web article from the LA Times, simulated maps and video show the incredible shaking, depth and length of a magnitude 8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault line.
“Even though the San Andreas fault does not go directly into Los Angeles — it is 30 miles away from downtown — the city is expected to be heavily shaken by a large earthquake on that fault. For instance, simulations of a possible magnitude 7.8 quake on the San Andreas fault that begins at the Salton Sea and spreads west toward the San Gabriel mountains and show seismic shaking waves “bent into the Los Angeles area,” said Jordan.
According to many scientists, several of the larger cities located on the fault line are susceptible to liquefaction which happens when certain kinds of water-laden soils are shaken and momentarily cease to be solid, becoming somewhat fluid-like, similar to pudding. Any structure on such soil like buildings or freeways tend to sink into the soil and tilt, sometimes toppling over completely.
