Thomas Jordan, the director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, recently released a statement saying that the San Andreas fault appears to in a critical state, and could generate a deadly earthquake. He states that the fault line is "locked, loaded, and ready to go." This earthquake could be so catastrophic mainly because the fault line hasn't released any pressure since 1857, and since then, it has progressively built up even more pressure between the plates. This upcoming earthquake is predicted to be a 8.0, and result in $33 billion dollars of damage, 1,800 deaths, and over 10,000 aftershocks.
This is a very frightening thought; not only will the earthquake impact California, but it will impact all surrounding states as well as the rest of the country. The most damaging earthquake that occurred in the U.S. took place in San Fransisco in 1906, which resulted in city fire that burned for 3 days and about 700 deaths. This upcoming earthquake is supposed to be even more damaging. Although it is impossible to be 100% prepared for this earthquake, California has previously learned what to do in these events and is currently doing all possible in order to save citizens of California and the surrounding states.
Link: http://www.alternet.org/environment/san-andreas-fault-could-crack-soon-heres-what-will-happen-when-it-does
I agree with you, this is very frightening. It is good that California has learned what to in these events.
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