This here is a supercomputer simulation of southern California being given a good, hard shake in the form of a magnitude 8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault. Published today in Geology is a study that found that "for the last 700 years, earthquakes on the southern San Andreas fault have been much more frequent than everyone thought," according to one of the researchers.
The LA Times says that could mean we're "overdue for the type of catastrophic quake often referred to as 'The Big One.'" (The last big San Andreas quake happened in 1857.) In this simulation, which is up for an award for achievements in high-performance computing, the earthquake starts near Parkfield and spreads southeast. The video description tells us to "Notice how areas such as Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and the Coachella Valley generate some of the strongest (and longest duration) shaking, due to amplification of the underlying sedimentary basins." Don't all run out for bottled water at once.
· San Andreas fault has produced far more earthquakes than previously believed, study finds [LAT]
· Magnitude 8 Earthquake Simulation Along the San Andreas Fault [SciVee]
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