A major California fault has begun shifting, and may be capable of producing an 8.0 temblor, according to scientists.
The movement is “a result of this year’s Ridgecrest earthquake sequence destabilizing nearby faults,” according to a study released Thursday by scientists at the California Institute of Technology.
The article stated:
The period of seismic quiescence in Southern California was rudely interrupted by the Ridgecrest earthquake sequence in July 2019. Ross et al. mapped the slip sequences during the magnitude 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes that shook the region. They found that ruptures of a few larger, but many smaller, faults occurred during both earthquakes. The Ridgecrest sequence calls for rethinking seismic hazard, as multifault ruptures are not usually considered when assessing seismic risk.
In the past, there was no record of movement on the Garlock fault, which lies on the northern edge of the Mojave Desert, producing even a slight earthquake.
“But new satellite radar images now show that the fault has started to move, causing a bulging of land that can be viewed from space,” according to the Los Angeles Times. – READ MORE