Creep in 4 faults means big quake may be poised to hit NorCal

[bing101]

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/The-Bay-Area-s-next-big-quake-could-be-on-any-5820259.php

Not really a surprise if you live in the Bay Area, Monterey and the Sacramento Valley since these faults are now getting attention 2 months after the American Canyon/Napa Quake and 25 years after Loma Prieta.

[sdmichael]

Those faults have been creeping for at least 60 years, why the hype now? If the speed changed, then perhaps... otherwise it is just hype.

[jeffandnicole]

Some reporter just wanted to have their name out there before the next round of newspaper layoffs.

[freebrickproductions]

Some reporter just wanted to have their name out there before the next round of newspaper layoffs.

[J N Winkler]

The trigger for this newspaper article was publication of a research paper on the faults in question.  The authors of the paper were careful not to claim that earthquakes are imminent, so the ones that are "due" could come tomorrow, or in 100 years.  Moreover, tomorrow is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, so articles on seismic risk have an added edge of timeliness.

In terms of risk from natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc., I suspect you are now better off in California than in, say, Oklahoma or Kansas.  Two-thirds of the deaths from Loma Prieta came from the collapse of the Cypress Viaduct, a particular type of infrastructure failure that is now far less likely after two and a half decades of double-decker freeway demolitions, boulevard conversions, and seismic retrofits.  Meanwhile, in spite of the National Weather Service's abandonment of the no-warning policy around 1950 and vast improvements in weather radar and storm observation techniques, F4 or F5 tornadoes that hit or run near major metropolitan areas in the Midwest still rack up death tolls comparable to those of the Sylmar, Loma Prieta, and Northridge earthquakes but with greater frequency and out of a much smaller population base.

[bing101]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXbKv6ObFjQ

Remember this clip from 1989 ABC News did a prediction about Quakes right after Loma Prieta , New Madrid Fault, New York City Fault, Wasatch Fault, Cascadia Fault all the 6.0 and above type category but all so far have been shown false so far. But there have been 5.x on New Madrid in 2008 and a 5.x near Virginia.

I was amazed that the 5.x Virginia Quake of 2011
and the New Madrid 5.x Quake people can feel this quake in multiple states in the East Coast and Midwest.

This is while the 2014 American Canyon quake a 6.0 was only felt in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento Valley. Also the 1992 7.2 Landers, 1994 6.7 Northridge, 1971 6.6 Sylmar, 1999 7.1 Hector Mine and 2010 7.2 Mexicali quake were all confined to Southern California and parts of Northern Baja California.
6.5 Eureka quake was confined to the Jefferson region of Oregon and California.

[bing101]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DSaputjr9A

Remember this Virginia and Washington DC had a quake that rocked the entire East Coast. The Panic sounds like something we California Residents would act if a 6.0 and Above takes place, But then again its not like Chile, Japan, or Alaska where they are used to 8.9-9.1 Quakes are big quakes. USGS said that subduction fault produce the big 8.9 quakes not strike slips. Strike slips according to Caltech only makes 7.8-7.9 quakes.