Author Topic: 'Slow earthquakes' on San Andreas Fault increase risk of large quakes  (Read 472 times)

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'Slow earthquakes' on San Andreas Fault increase risk of large quakes
June 18, 2018, Arizona State University

The southern San Andreas Fault slices across the Carrizo Plain in California. Both the northern and southern sections of the San Andreas have seen large, destructive earthquakes, but the central section between them has remained largely quiet. Work by ASU geophysicists suggests the central section moves in a previously unsuspected way that makes big quakes more likely. Credit: US Geological Survey

Geologists have long thought that the central section of California's famed San Andreas Fault—from San Juan Bautista southward to Parkfield, a distance of about 80 miles—has a steady creeping movement that provides a safe release of energy.

Creep on the central San Andreas during the past several decades, so the thinking goes, has reduced the chance of a big quake that ruptures the entire fault from north to south.

https://phys.org/news/2018-06-earthquakes-san-andreas-fault-large.html