South California It has broken the record for earthquakes of magnitude 4 and above in a single year.After a magnitude 4.7 earthquake and five aftershocks struck Malibu on Thursday.
The average number of earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater in this region is about eight per year, seismologist Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said in a televised question-and-answer session after the quake.
‘So far we’ve had 14 in Southern California; last year there were 13.’
The unusually high number of earthquakes in recent weeks is raising fears. Increased seismic activity means that the long-awaited “big earthquake” in the region is coming.
There have been three earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater in Southern California in the past month. The unprecedented seismic activity has local residents concerned about the “big earthquake”
“The big one” refers to a hypothetical high-magnitude earthquake that could one day occur along California’s San Andreas Fault, which runs 800 miles along the state’s coast.
Researchers have estimated that such an earthquake would cause approximately 1,800 deaths, 50,000 injuries and $200 billion in damage.
Scientists cannot predict earthquakes, but they have long warned of the inevitability of a “big one.”
In fact, California already deserved it. Large earthquakes typically occur every 150 to 200 years, but the San Andreas fault hasn’t had one in more than three centuries.
The recent surge in seismic activity in Southern California has locals wondering if a “major earthquake” is on the way. Many took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their concerns.
“The big one is really coming… this is the third earthquake in how many weeks?” wrote one X user after the 4.7 magnitude earthquake that occurred on Thursday morning.
If a major quake were to occur, “it would be a matter of a few tens of seconds before the shaking caused by the San Andreas phenomenon, which ruptures the segments closest to Los Angeles, reaches our urban areas,” Jonathan Stewart of the University of California, Los Angeles, previously told DailyMail.com.
This region has experienced a record number of earthquakes in recent weeks.
On August 6, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bakersfield and was felt more than a hundred miles away at Dodgers Stadium, where nearly 50,000 people were attending a game. Fortunately, no one was injured.
The monstrous San Andreas Fault divides California from south to north, caused by two tectonic plates slowly grinding against each other, always on the verge of producing “the big fault.”
Seismologist Lucy Jones said the recent surge in seismic activity in Southern California is not a sign that the San Andreas fault is about to burst.
Days later, on Aug. 12, a magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck Pasadena “in essentially the same location” as a magnitude 3.5 quake in June, Jones wrote in X after the event.
Thursday’s quake was initially reported as magnitude 5.1, but was later downgraded to 4.7. It was centered five miles north of Malibu and had a depth of seven miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Minutes later, a 2.8 magnitude tremor occurred, followed by four others of magnitude between 2.7 and 3.5 over the course of about an hour. So far, no significant damage or injuries have been reported.
This most recent event marks the fourteenth earthquake of magnitude 4 or greater in Southern California this year.
But Jones answered “no” to the question of whether this increased activity means that “the big hurricane” is coming, according to the The New York TimesFrequent, smaller tremors do not mean a large earthquake is more likely, he said.
In fact, despite the recent increase in earthquakes, Southern California’s overall seismic activity has been relatively quiet since 1993, he said.
This year, however, the region has seen a notable increase in the number of earthquake series in which at least one quake was magnitude 4 or greater, Jones added.
By mid-August, more than a dozen such series had been held, which is a significant increase compared to previous years: in 2023 there were only six, in 2022 two and in 2021 four.
But Jones said these numbers are “not yet statistically significant,” meaning experts can’t be sure whether the increase is part of a larger trend or just a passing phenomenon.
So scientists can’t infer any information about the “big earthquake” from these recent quakes. But advances in earthquake prediction could eventually help us pinpoint the timeline for when it might occur.
For example, a New study He has identified a link between the strength of faults and the size of earthquakes, which could provide a way to determine how close an area is to facing a major seismic event.
The researchers clarified that this does not mean we can predict the exact timing of a future earthquake.
But the findings could help scientists estimate when a fault has reached a critical point “where only a small extra push of force is needed for the fault to slip,” said lead author Satoshi Matsumoto, director of the Institute of Seismology and Volcanology at Kyushu University.
“It is vital to know this information in order to be prepared for major earthquakes,” he added.
