{"id":941872,"date":"2026-07-17T21:06:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/941872\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T21:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:06:31","slug":"san-andreas-fault-at-highest-earthquake-strain-in-1000-years-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/941872\/","title":{"rendered":"San Andreas fault at highest earthquake strain in 1,000 years, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It lurks ominously beneath California\u2019s many natural wonders, a reminder that nothing in this landscape is truly permanent.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been described as \u201cthe mother of all earthquake faults,\u201d the source of both our geological birth and, perhaps, our ultimate undoing.<\/p>\n

But the most unnerving thing about the San Andreas fault these days may be its silence. It\u2019s a mystery scientists are still trying to unlock.<\/p>\n

The San Andreas is central to any discussion of California. It\u2019s the massive 800-mile spine of the state, trundling up the Coachella Valley to the San Gabriel Mountains, and pushing along the edge of Silicon Valley to beyond the Golden Gate.<\/p>\n

There is no simple answer for why California\u2019s longest fault, responsible for some of America\u2019s most powerful earthquakes, has produced so few in the last century. <\/p>\n

But it is clear that the quiet period is only increasing strain on the San Andreas, as well as on the state\u2019s second-longest fault, the San Jacinto. <\/p>\n

A new study underscores the concern. Researchers estimated that key sections of the fault in Southern California are at their highest level of tectonic strain in the last 1,000 years.<\/p>\n

The San Andreas, in other words, is locked, loaded and inevitable. <\/p>\n

A red-hot San\u00a0Andreas<\/p>\n

Tectonic stress on these sections of the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults is high \u2014 shown in red \u2014 a product of no significant quakes on them for more than a century. At the Cajon Pass, sections of the faults are at their highest strain in 1,000 years, calculations\u00a0suggest.<\/p>\n

Average tectonic stress, in megapascals<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"Map<\/p>\n

N<\/p>\n

\"Map<\/p>\n

N<\/p>\n

Liliane Burkhard \/ University of Bern \/ University of Hawai\u2019i at Manoa; Statewide California Earthquake Center Community Fault Model<\/a><\/p>\n

Sean Greene LOS ANGELES TIMES<\/p>\n

Ticking tectonics<\/p>\n

There are generations of Californians who have never experienced the fury of the San Andreas. <\/p>\n

The fault was responsible for a megaquake that ripped through the then-sparsely populated state in 1857 \u2014 an event that, if repeated today, would reap mass destruction.<\/p>\n

In 1906, \u201ca crack in the edge of the world,\u201d as author Simon Winchester described it, flattened San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Modern Californians have been forced to make do with Hollywood\u2019s CGI versions of the fault, which cast it as one of our state\u2019s darkest villains. <\/p>\n

Get earthquake-ready in six weeks <\/p>\n

From building a kit to buying insurance, our Unshaken newsletter course will help you prepare.<\/p>\n

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n

But sooner or later, scientists say, California\u2019s earthquake faults will rupture in a way not seen in the modern era. While California has seen sizable temblors since the great San Francisco quake of 1906, the state\u2019s faults are capable of producing intense shaking over a much larger area than seen during more modern events such as the Sylmar, Loma Prieta or Northridge quakes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe keep accumulating that earthquake energy, and it has to be released. And the only way it gets released is through large earthquakes,\u201d said U.S. Geological Survey geologist Kate Scharer, one of the new study\u2019s co-authors. \u201cThe small ones don\u2019t really do it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

A section of the California Aqueduct crisscrosses the San Andreas fault dozens of times.<\/p>\n