For years, people who live in inland California say that one day they’ll have beachfront property when the “Big One” hits. Is that so far from the truth?
The problem is, no matter how much equipment and advanced technology geologists and seismologists use to track plate activity, they can only keep an eye on it—nobody knows when it will hit. And, unlike in the movie San Andreas, The Rock will not be there to save the day.
What Experts Know
Although they cannot predict when and where, scientists do have some ideas about how and what. A 2008 federal study predicts that a 7.8 magnitude earthquake could happen on a section of the San Andreas Fault that has not ruptured since 1680, way before California became a state. The Southern California Earthquake Center states that the largest possible earthquake that can strike throughout most of the San Andreas Fault is an 8.4 magnitude.
You need to look farther North
An earthquake along San Andreas Fault could be nothing compared to the Hayward Fault, a lesser-known fault that runs under the East Bay and that has been referred to by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) earthquake geologist emeritus David Schwartz as a “Tectonic time bomb.”
And 2 million people live on top of it.
The Hayward Fault runs beneath UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium, which recently underwent a major seismic retrofit.
Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 2014
A report by the USGS estimates that approximately 800 people could die and 18,000 more injured if the Hayward Fault got hit with a magnitude 7.0 quake.
What will happen if the “Big One” does hit? During the quake, buildings crumble, power lines collapse, oil and gas lines rupture, and water and sewer pipes fail. Immediately afterward, communication will break down, meaning no phone, no Instagram, no texts.
And what about the aftershocks?
The best way to survive a disaster is to outsmart it. Are you ready? Do you have a plan?
You need to have a plan.
Get ready. Find out more today at 4:18.
