The name of the San Andreas Fault precedes itself like, well, an
immense and unavoidable rift in the earth’s surface. Running some 1,300
kilometres through the US state of California and reaching a depth of 15 to 20
kilometres, the San Andreas forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific and
North American Plates. Yet because of its vast size, it’s difficult to grasp
this giant geological feature; except, that is, when you look at it from above.
The reason the San Andreas Fault is so famous – or perhaps
infamous – is because of the major earthquakes for which it has been
responsible. Names like the great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, which left
3,000 dead, or 1989’s Loma Prieta earthquake, which killed 63, or Landers richter
scale 6.4 earthquake in Northridge in 1994, leave some trembling at the thought
of the next big one. Worrying, a study suggests that the fault is set for just
such a super quake of magnitude 7.0 or over, with the risk rising faster than
was previously believed
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