Report: 99% Chance Calif. Will Be Rocked By Powerful Quake In Next 30 Years
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A new report says California faces a greater than 99 percent chance of being rocked by a strong earthquake in the next 30 years.
The report Tuesday by the U.S. Geological Survey found that the odds of a magnitude-6.7 quake similar in size to the 1994 Northridge disaster was higher in Northern California than Southern California -- 95 percent versus 93 percent.
The seismic risks are similar to a 2008 report by the USGS. Back then, seismologists also determined that California faces an almost certain risk of a strong quake.
Of all the faults that crisscross California, the southern San Andreas Fault remains the most dangerous because it hasn't ruptured in a long time.
The report is a forecast, but it is not a prediction.