Some very scary news for the residents of California are coming out this week as leading scientist are reporting that the San Andreas fault is “locked, loaded and ready to roll”.
The fault has been building up tension for over 100 years and it looks like it could go at any moment.
Mark Benthian, a scientist at Southern California Earthquake Center said, “an earthquake on the San Andreas would really affect all of Southern California”.
The magnitude they are worried about is up to an 8.0 earthquake. We have seen devastating quakes in Ecuador and around the “ring of fire”, but no big ones in Southern California.
“If it’s a long time since you’ve had an earthquake on a fault, the more pressure has built up, and when you release that pressure, then you have a larger earthquake,” Benthian said.
Scientists warn that a quake around an 8.0 could kill 1,800 people and injure close to 50,000.
The staggering property damaging estimates are horrifying. Somewhere in the range of $200 billion are the estimates from a major quake there.
Los Angeles is home to over 12 million people, and a large earthquake would devastate lives and jobs. The ripple effects would be felt all throughout the country and the world.
The scariest thing to think about is that it is going to happen, it’s just a matter of when. So if you live in Southern California, make sure you have a plan in place and the supplies you need to survive an 8.0 earthquake.
Here are some tips from the locals about what you will need to put together your first earthquake kit.