New research suggests the potential for earthquakes is intensifying on Southern California’s San Andreas and San Jacinto faults, where tectonic stress has risen to its highest level in roughly 1,000 years.
Scientists are not saying they can predict when the next big earthquake will hit, but they are warning that the region’s seismic risk is becoming harder to ignore.
What’s happening?
In a study released June 3, researchers reported unusually high tectonic stress across Southern California’s San Andreas and San Jacinto fault networks, according to a Gizmodo article.
Researchers used a 3D earthquake cycle model and geological records based on radiocarbon dating, tree-ring anomalies, and historical rupture evidence to simulate how stress has accumulated over the past millennium…