California was rocked by three earthquakes in less than 24 hours.
The largest was a magnitude 3.0 earthquake that struck four miles northwest of Walker at 12:33 a.m. local time on Wednesday, followed by a magnitude 2.9 earthquake struck 10 miles northeast of Barstow at 10:45 a.m. local time.
And at 5:40 p.m., the state suffered another blow when a magnitude 2.6 struck two miles east of Pacheco.
Although the seismic events are considered small, residents of nearby areas, especially near the epicenters, reported feeling the ground shaking. No damage or injuries have been reported so far.
But this anomaly is adding to a series of increased seismic activity that has reignited fears of The Big One.
California has been hit by three earthquakes in 24 hours, which occurred near the towns of Barstow, Walker and Pacheco
There have been no reports of tremors associated with the magnitude 2.9 earthquake near Barstow.
But two people — one in Glenbrook, Nevada, and another in Martinez, California — reported feeling weak tremors when the 3.0 magnitude earthquake struck near Walker.
This earthquake occurred along the Walker Lane, a 625-mile corridor filled with hundreds of earthquake faults that runs up and down the California-Nevada border.
Sixteen people reported feeling weak tremors when the magnitude 2.6 earthquake struck near Pacheco.
All of those reporting the shaking were in California, with nine people reporting from Martinez, three from Pleasant Hill, two from Concord, one from Walnut Creek and one from Folsom.
This earthquake occurred along the San Andreas Fault – the volatile boundary between two tectonic plates: the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. It runs 800 miles along the California coast.
Tectonic plates are large, solid pieces of the Earth’s crust that move independently of each other.
Both the southern and northern parts of the San Andreas Fault are locked, meaning friction has caused the North American and Pacific plates to stick together along these parts of their boundary.
When part of a fault is locked in this way, tension can build up over time and eventually overcome friction.
A major earthquake along the San Andreas would destroy towns directly on the fault line
Researchers estimate that The Big One would cause approximately 1,800 deaths, 50,000 injuries and $200 billion in damage.
When all that stored energy is suddenly released, shock waves travel up through the Earth’s crust and cause an earthquake.
Both the southern and northern parts of the San Andreas Fault have about the same chance of producing a large-magnitude earthquake in the coming decades.
The San Andreas is widely known for its potential to unleash The Big One – a hypothetical high-magnitude earthquake that will one day occur along this fault line.
Researchers estimate that such an earthquake would cause approximately 1,800 deaths, 50,000 injuries and $200 billion in damage.
Scientists are unable to predict earthquakes, but they have long warned of the inevitability of The Big One.
In fact, California is already too late for that. Major earthquakes typically occur every 150 to 200 years, but the San Andreas Fault has not occurred in more than three centuries.
California has seen an increase in seismic activity in recent weeks, reigniting fears of The Big One.
Last month, the state broke its record for most earthquakes with a magnitude of 4 and higher in one year aafter a magnitude of 4.7 earthquake and five aftershocks shook Malibu, marking the 14th magnitude 4 or greater earthquake in Southern California this year.
The average number of earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater in this region is about eight per year, US Geological Survey (USGS) seismologist Lucy Jones said in a televised Q&A after the earthquake.
But this increased activity is not a sure sign that The Big One is coming.
Jones said these numbers are “not yet statistically significant,” meaning experts can’t be sure whether the increase is part of a larger trend, or just a blip.
Therefore, scientists cannot derive any information about ‘the big one’ from these latest earthquakes. But advances in earthquake prediction could eventually help us determine a timeline for when it might strike.
The three earthquakes that occurred in just 24 hours this week add to the sense that California is having an unusual year for seismic activity.
But like this year’s record-breaking number of magnitude 4 earthquakes, this anomaly doesn’t mean Californians should brace for The Big One.