Posted on 03/18/2010 11:11:48 AM PDT by Touch Not the Cat
The moderate earthquake that struck the Los Angeles area Tuesday likely occurred a long a fault that could generate a much stronger, major quake in the future, according to scientists.
Seismologists say the Puente Hills thrust system could touch off earthquakes up to magnitude 7.5 directly underneath downtown Los Angeles. Such temblors would prove larger than any in the modern history of the Los Angeles Basin.
The Puente Hills fault, which winds through the area's fractured underbelly for about 25 miles -- from northern Orange County to Beverly Hills -- has generated at least four earthquakes ranging from magnitude 7.2 to 7.5 in the last 11,000 years, according to a study published in the journal Science.
"The bad news," the report said, "is that when the Puente Hills thrust fault ruptures in an earthquake, it tends to do so in a very big way."
Tuesday's magnitude-4.4 quake struck at 4:04 a.m. and was centered 1 mile east-northeast of Pico Rivera, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
There were no reports of serious damage or injuries.
Residents as far away as San Diego and Santa Clarita reported feeling the quake, which consisted of some rumbling and a quick jolt.
Seismologists have not determined which fault was responsible for Tuesday's shaker, however, Daniel Ponti of the U.S. Geological Survey told the Whittier Daily News that it was likely on the Puente Hills thrust system.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
The entire state is at as much risk, but of course its always all about LA.
.
Si!
They’ll probably get extra money from the feds to deal with the earthquake like Hawaii had.
Puente Hills? They’re the Whittier Hills to those of us from Whittier.
“Seismologists have not determined which fault was responsible for Tuesday’s shaker”....
In other words....Which fault is at fault?
I see the word “thrust” in this story, and I also seem to recall it associated with the recent Chilean quakes.
Is this “Puente Hills” fault the same as the one in Chile?
Bush’s Fault is at fault, of course.
I'm no geologist, but that's easy. It was Bush's Fault!
That’s because they are talking about the fault which had the quake this week. No one disputes that all of CA and the Pacific Northwest are at risk ... but from other fault lines.
Haiti. Chile. California. Earthquakes in diverse places.
The main faults all down the west coasts of both continents are of the strike/slip variety, but there are all kinds of tertiary fractures associated with the pressures they generate.
Duh.
LA will get eaten for lunch someday.
This has been known forever.
And it will happen again and again and again as long as there are active faults in the area.
The story could've been written the same way about any other fault in the state.
D*** George Bush for causing all these quakes! But at least he is learning the importance of being multi-culti...
Thrust faults push one layer under the other. i.e. the movement is perpendicular to the fault line. There tends to be a lot of vertical motion.
Don’t you know? It’s BUSH’s fault.
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