Whenever anybody thinks of natural disasters in the United States, many different things come to mind: tornadoes in the “Tornado Alley” states such as Texas or Oklahoma, hurricanes in the southern states. When it comes to western states, especially California, the first thing that comes to mind is earthquakes.
Pretty much all of California’s locals are well aware that earthquakes can very well happen at any given time and place in the state, being accustomed to it as this state is certainly no stranger to them.
Since the formation of the San Andreas Fault system 25-30 million years ago, the juxtaposition of the Pacific and North American plates has formed many faults in California that accommodate lateral motion between the plates, including the San Jacinto, Chino, and Hollywood faults.
However recently, residents of Southern California have experienced a rather abnormally high amount of earthquake occurrences. This could lead all to wonder if this is a possible red flag of a big earthquake, tremendously damaging the state and possibly ending lives.
According to CBS News.com, the year of 2024 has so far been the most seismically active year since 1988 after the recent earthquakes that have been occurring, which should be noted as in the following year, the San Francisco Earthquake of 1989 occurred. This should not be anything to be looked over, as it caused sixty three deaths, nearly three-thousand eight-hundred injuries, and an estimated $6 billion in property damage. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the area since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
By mid-August of this year, the Southern region has had thirteen earthquakes measuring a magnitude of 4.0 or greater this year. Normally, Southern California averages between ten and twelve tremors of that size a year. This is very alarming as this could be a warning sign of bad things to come.
It is also pretty concerning as earthquakes here could be five to ten times more destructive than earthquakes along or near the San Andreas Fault. In fact, the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake happened along the Puente Hills thrust fault system. The 5.9-magnitude tremor killed eight people and damaged thousands of buildings.
To put all of the speculation and possible rumors to an end, these recent earthquakes are not necessarily a sign of a big one coming. According to an American seismologist, Dr. Lucy Jones, stated on a KTLA.com Interview, “Yes we are feeling (more quakes this year) but it’s not yet statistically significant… Seismologists look for patterns — everybody looks for patterns — that’s why we have myths of earthquake weather and animals and all of these things are us trying to form a pattern of what is inherently a random distribution.”
When asked about if these rather large earthquake patterns mean anything, Jones responded with, “They just don’t.”
As we can see, there is nothing to be worried about in regard to all of these recent and more noticeable earthquakes that Southern Californians have been experiencing. The chance of “The Big One” occurring is no different than what it was in any previous years as these kinds of situations just cannot be predicted or forecasted.
This being said, it should be known that any type of earthquake, no matter how big or small, can happen any time in this region. No one may never know or be prepared enough for when that big one does it, which is due to happen soon for us so it is important to be well prepared for one.
There have been many technological advancements in earthquake prediction and early warning systems, such as the ShakeAlert System. This system can give residents the chance to take cover a few seconds before the earthquake hits. However, this obviously is not enough time to prepare for the rare, but very possible event of a big one occurring.