Elevate your local knowledge

Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!

Select Region

Selecting your primary region ensures you get the stories that matter to you first.

Study: California fault could cause magnitude-7.4 quake

Study: California fault could cause magnitude-7.4 quake | iNFOnews.ca
FILE - In this Jan. 17, 1994, file photo, the covered body of Los Angeles Police Officer Clarence Wayne Dean, 46, lies near his motorcycle which plunged off the State Highway 14 overpass that collapsed onto Interstate 5, after a magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles. A new study says an earthquake fault running from San Diego to Los Angeles is capable of producing a magnitude-7.4 temblor that could affect some of the most densely populated areas in California. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac, File)

SAN DIEGO – A new study says an earthquake fault running from San Diego to Los Angeles is capable of producing a magnitude-7.4 temblor that could affect some of the most densely populated areas in California.

The study, announced Tuesday, looked at the Newport-Inglewood and the Rose Canyon systems. They’d been considered separate but the study concludes they’re one long fault running offshore from San Diego Bay and on land through the Los Angeles basin.

Study lead author Valerie Sahakian says the fault is never more than four miles offshore and even a moderately large quake could have a major impact on the region.

In 1933, a magnitude-6.4 quake struck the Long Beach area, killing 115 people.

The study was conducted by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

News from © iNFOnews.ca, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

Create a free account

Abbey Westbury

Related Articles