A recent study found that the southern portions of the San Andreas fault and parts of the adjacent San Jacinto fault line are locked and loaded to their highest stress levels in 1,000 years. This increases the probability of a significant earthquake in the region.

Earthquake Risk

The study revealed that the stress has been accumulating for more than a century along the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems. Both fractures make up the boundary of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, which have been sliding past each other a few centimeters each year while other zones are locked.

The researchers say that the chances are more than 50 percent that an earthquake of 6.7-magnitude or higher occurs along the southern stretch of the San Andreas fault in upcoming decades. The San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems also meet at a junction called the Cajon Pass, which can either stop or transmit large ruptures between the two faults.

If an earthquake were to travel through the Cajon Pass and along both faults, scientists say the consequences would be severe and widespread, affecting critical infrastructure such as major highways, railways, and energy corridors over several cities simultaneously.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.