pmc editorial manager
Why the San Andreas Fault Hasn't Caused a Major Los Angeles Earthquake in 300 Years, Researchers Say
New research claims the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault could cause Los Angeles to experience 50% less ground motion than previously predicted.
While this is just one scenario, said study co-author Te-Yang Yeh, a postdoctoral researcher at San Diego State University, it's a rare prospect that movies and television have always portrayed as a major disaster.
The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, but is available on the preprint site ESS Open Archive . It updates computer models first run during the 2008 Great Southern California ShakeOut, a project to quantify the effects of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault, which runs 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of downtown LA.
