Why Recent Unusual Activities in the San Andreas Fault Could Trigger a Major Earthquake

I'm native to SoCal, and a former geology student. The southern portion of the SAF has not broken because it's hung up on the bend along the Transverse Ranges where the Pacific Plate is jammed. It's very likely that when a break comes, it will create a new path, starting at about Desert Hot Springs and running along the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mtns. Fault maps show existing N-S faults in that region which could facilitate that break.

Lived in Cali for all my 75 years, Los Angeles to San Jose, moved to Seattle for four years and moved back just in time for the Loma Prieta, I lived in Northridge for that one. Stock up water, and easy canned foods, warm blankets and just resign yourself that you wont have WIFI for awhile. And know how to behave for your safety, kids, spouses, pets. Know more than one route out of where you live and where to go, have some cash ready to go if you have to run for it. That said earthquakes are kind of like tornadoes they scare while its going on but if you are educated in safety and have necessaries stored up, just do what first responders ask of you, they have updated info and stay off the road if you can. I've been through four "major" quakes and after clean up I have only lost one lamp, though my pickup "walked" back down our longish driveway and I had to go retrieve it from the street. Anyway, do your homework have what your family needs for a week or two, foods, water, meds yeah yeah, I know but its really simple if you lay the ground work before anything happens.

The earthquake itself wasn't the destroyer of San Francisco in 1906, but of the fires that swept the city afterwards.

Having grown up in California, I've heard this my whole life. I'm 74. 1906 didn't have freeways, as shown in the video.😊

I live in L.A. & was here for the 1994 quake. We kept having minor quakes for approx 2 weeks prior that kept happening in the middle of the night and I kept telling people we were going to have a big one. This included that Fri am commute, telling my friend that Id hate to be under this overpass when it hits, freaking my friend out. That overpass was on La Cienega and the 10 because traffic would always stop while we sat under it. It did collapse at 4:31 am, Monday am when the quake hit. I woke up in mid air being thrown from bed and landing next to my door, which I stood near as it slammed open & closed and luckily didn't get injured. I saw purple & white bright flashes as transformers behind our apartment blew. Scary stuff and I sorta prayed out of one side of my brain and counted with the other. I think I got to 13 when it stopped. It turns out that I slept through the first part as I was on a heavy sedative to help me sleep because of the constant little quakes leading up to Northridge breaking. Scary and now I live on the 33rd floor of a new highrise in DTLA. So far, each quake we have had makes me dizzy but not the violent shaking of 1994. Its been like being on a raft in a pool this high up. Granted, the strongest has only been a 4.5 maybe. So, if you hear some screaming next time, it may be me because I may get tossed out the window during a 6.7 or higher. Yikes. At least the pool is on my side.

Here in Alaska we had a 7.1 LET ME TELL YOU IT WAS LONG SO SO SCARY HEARING THE HOUSE AND ALL THE WOOD CREAKING AND NAILS BEING PUSHED TO THE LIMIT YOU COULD ALMOST SEE IT HAPPENING IN THE WALLS & WE LIVE IN A 15 YR OLD CONDO! OMG IT LASTED SO LONG MY HUB HAD OUR 6 YR OLD BOY BETWEEN US IN THE HALLWAY I SAID OH MY GOD ALAN WHEN WILL IT STOP HES LIKE ITS ALMOST OVER WE JUST SQUEEZED & HELD EACH OTHER

What a perfect place to put the high-speed train track

The Loma Prieta Quake of '89 was pretty damn scary; I was on the S.F. Peninsula. Oakland Freeway fell down and the S.F Bay bridge took a hit The ceiling tiles in our office in Palo Alto were all over our desks, that morning. We've moved!

Wherever you live, you need to be ready. I lived in southeast Florida 48 years and always stocked the house, trimmed trees, cut bushes and had roof checked on June first because the wind will blow and things will be flying through the air. Also spent time in San Jose, California where nothing happened. The last 13 years I have lived in Ecuador and we have earthquakes daily. The 7.9 in 2016 was interesting. It did more damage along the Pacific Coast than in The Andes Valley where I live. But since this is life here since the beginning of time, you do not find much panic. I live in a historic area of a tourist city. I adore my house as it comes with history of over 150 years. It has plenty of cracks and is made with mud bricks. I check the quakes each day and follow the fault lines. Some places on this Planet earthquakes are just a way of life, if that is where you want to live. If I am in bed, I move for nothing.

EPHESIANS 4 ;32 AND BE YE KIND ONE TO ANOTHER , TENDER HEARTED ,FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, EVEN AS GOD FOR CHRIST S SAKE HATH FORGIVING YOU.

If you're on a flight from LA to SF you may be lucky enough see the fault. Fascinating..one other element to experiencing the earthquakes. They make sounds eg. a sonic boom to a rumble but usually they are silent. Some are slow rollers other hit with a jolt but your proximity to the epicenter and the depth ( below the surface) of the quake can make a huge difference in your experience.

I live in San Luis Obispo, about 30 or so miles west of where the San Andreas runs through what looks to be a desert, the famous picture that always seems to be shown of the fault. Parkfield is to the northwest of here. Every day is a crap shoot when it comes to whether or not we'll have "The big one". Yeah, one of these days we will but until then we don't think about it. They happen and then they're over. Truthfully, I'll take a quake any day over a tornado.

While the San Andreas Fault is significant, the Cascadia Subduction Zone poses an even greater threat in terms of potential magnitude-9 earthquakes. Preparedness, early warning systems, and community resilience are crucial for minimizing the impact of such seismic events. 🌍🔍🌊

I'm more concerned about the volcano under yellow stone ,,it's overdue then it's allover 😢

The seismologist said - "It's not my fault!"

4.9 in Barstow today

If the San Andreas broke free today it would make the 1906 earthquake look like a little shake and bake.

The Cascadia subduction zone could produce a 9+ magnitude quake. The worst case is the possibility that both happen at the same time. The geomagnetic poles are in the process of reversing. This is putting great stress in the mantel, and earthquakes are certain to happen.

Was born and raised in central California and only remember two quakes of any magnitude. They’ve been talking about the big one ever since I can remember.

Yeah actually all those little earthquakes on San Andreas are preventing a larger one. In this case the two tectonic plates are sliding by each other in transitory activity. The subduction zone in the northwest of the US where I live is an example of real potential catastrophe as it creates rare gigantic earthquakes that can basically reach a 10 on the Richter scale. Compare that with 6-7 on that same scale for the San Andreas fault zone. Given that the Richter scale is exponential, that means that cascadia could be 100 times stronger