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Is a big earthquake approaching? Can the San Andreas Fault trigger a tragedy? Every time an earthquake or devastation occurs within the Ring of Fire, questions arise about the possibility of the planet collapsing due to a natural disaster of this magnitude.
While earthquakes cannot be predicted, a recent study suggests that the San Andreas Fault, located in California, is a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment, triggering a cataclysm.
Scientists at San Jose State University have discovered that the fault is slipping at a faster and more constant rate, which could trigger earthquakes with greater intensity and frequency, not only in the area where it is located but also perceptible in various parts of the United States and Mexico.
The recent findings come from an investigation that analyzed a history of ancient earthquakes at Sanborn County Park. According to Professor Kim Blisniuk, who is in charge of the research, the fault has maintained a constant rate of movement for approximately 10,000 years instead of slowing down.
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“The great aspect of this work is that it shows the rate at which the relief preserves earthquakes prior to along the fault,” the expert explained and added: “The rate is similar to what we get for the San Andreas Fault to the north, in the North Coast section. But prior to the work that my colleagues and I did at Sanborn County Park, the rate does not appear to decrease along the San Andreas Fault, but rather seems to be constant over this 10,000-year period that we were able to document.”
Similar studies point out that the southern part of the San Andreas Fault, near Los Angeles, is at its highest stress level in a thousand years, which could trigger historic and devastating earthquakes like the 1906, 7.9-magnitude quake or the 1989, 6.9-magnitude quake in San Francisco.
“We have historic earthquakes along this fault, and we will continue to have them in the future,” Blisniuk stated and added: “We know we live on the edge of a tectonic plate, and we are always surprised when we hear: ‘There has been an earthquake in Japan or Colombia,’ but we are going to have an earthquake in California and we should be prepared.”
What is the San Andreas Fault?
The San Andreas Fault is an extensive zone of tectonic fractures that marks the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate in the western United States.
It is a strike-slip or transform fault, explains the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which means that the plates move primarily horizontally relative to each other: the Pacific Plate moves northwest relative to the North American Plate.
The San Andreas fault system is approximately 1,300 kilometers long and concentrates a good part of the relative movement between both plates.
This movement is not completely continuous: in some segments, the rocks can move slowly, while in others, friction keeps the faults locked, allowing energy and tectonic deformation to accumulate. When that stress exceeds the strength of the rocks, a sudden rupture and an earthquake can occur.
Because of the above, the San Andreas Fault is not only considered a defined crack, but part of a complex system of faults that distributes deformation throughout California and is located within the Ring of Fire.
[Publicidad]