Earthquake Swarm Beneath San Andreas Fault Making Scientists Nervous

A Swarm Of Earthquakes Beneath The San Andreas Fault Is Making Scientists Nervous

Warner Bros Pictures might want to rethink the shooting of San Andreas II – the sequel to the 2015 blockbuster about a massive earthquake striking the San Francisco Bay Area that starred the Rock, Paul Giamatti and a host of other A-list actors.

Because if the US Geological Survey’s worst fears are confirmed, the seismic devastation depicted in the film might hit a little too close to home. According to the Daily Mail, 134 earthquakes have hammered a three-mile stretch around Monterey County on the San Andreas fault over the last week – a pace that’s making seismologists nervous.

The San Andreas fault stretches 750 miles north to south across coastal California, forming the boundary of the Pacific plate and North American plate.

Of those earthquakes, 17 were stronger than 2.5 magnitude and 6 of them were stronger than 3.0. And experts at the USGS warn that more tremors are expected in the coming weeks.

The rumblings are amplifying fears raised last week that the 'Big One' – the mythical quake depicted in the movie ‘San Andreas’ – could be about to hit. In another sign of impending disaster, ten 'mini quakes' struck the same area last week. That swarm included one 4.6-magnitude quake that was felt in San Francisco more than 90 miles away.

“This one has been a quite productive aftershock sequence,” said Ole Kaven, a US Geological Survey seismologist.

“We suspect there will be aftershocks in the 2 to 3 [magnitude] range for at least a few more weeks,” he said.

Fortunately, nobody was injured in the quake storm.   

Last week's swarm hit California's Monterey County on Monday at 11:31 am ET about 13 miles northeast of Gonzales, near Salinas.

It dramatically increases the likelihood of a major quake in California, at least temporarily, experts claimed.

The initial 4.6-magnitude quake was followed by nine smaller aftershocks.

The largest of the tremors measured magnitude 2.8, according to Annemarie Baltay, a seismologist with the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park.

The quake happened at a depth of around 4 miles directly on top of the fault, close to a region where the Calaveras Fault branches off.

Experts have previously warned that any activity on the fault line is cause for concern.

“Any time there is significant seismic activity in the vicinity of the San Andreas fault, we seismologists get nervous,” Thomas Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Centre, said, according to the Mail.