California has experienced three earthquakes in the last 24 hours in an area being closely monitored for a major quake.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) detected the seismic activity along the San Andreas Fault, which spans 800 miles from Cape Mendocino in the north to the Salton Sea in the south.
Scientists warn this fault is overdue for a 'Big One' — a magnitude 7.8 earthquake or higher.
Friday's earthquakes ranged from a 2.5 to 2.9 magnitude, which experts say may cause mild injuries and damages.
However, no injuries or damages have been reported as of yet.
Experts are 'fairly confident that there could be a pretty large earthquake at some point in the next 30 years,' Angie Lux, project scientist for Earthquake Early Warning at the Berkeley Seismology Lab, previously told DailyMail.com.
Experts predict the 'Big One' would cause roughly 1,800 deaths, 50,000 injuries and $200 billion in damages, according to the Great California Shakeout.
Based on historical trends, it's estimated the San Andreas causes a major quake every 150 or so years — and the last one was 167 years ago.
USGS detected the first quake, a 2.9 magnitude, Thursday afternoon, northeast of San Francisco.
This tremor was located on Calaveras Fault, a major branch of the San Andreas Fault system.
The following earthquakes hit Friday morning, one along another branch of the major fault and another directly on it.
The vast majority of earthquakes result from the constant movement of tectonic plates, which are massive, solid slabs of rock that make up the planetary surface and shift around on top of Earth's mantle — the inner layer between the crust and core.
As the tectonic plates slowly move against each other, their edges can get stuck due to friction and stress will build along the edges.
When that stress overcomes the friction, the plates slip, causing a release of energy that travels in waves through the Earth's crust and generates the shaking we feel at the surface.
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