The problem with California, according to the Los Angeles Times, is that it is located in a seismically active area.
California is one of the US states that witness a large number of earthquakes.
During the past days of February, 10 earthquakes occurred in California, but they did not exceed 3.5 degrees, which means that they are weak.
The reason for this is that the state is located on a rift on what is known as the “San Andreas Fault”, which extends deep below the territory of the state, and it is an area where two tectonic plates converge, which makes the chances of an earthquake very likely because earthquakes, which are great energy, are released as a result of movement these plates.
It seems that the concern of an earthquake hitting the state is causing panic among the population, after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, as the search for the boundaries of the tectonic plates above which the state is located was reaped in “GoogleAstronomical numbers over the past two days.
Modify the construction method
During the 1980s and 1990s, some California cities demolished or modified buildings, following the earthquakes that struck the state.
However, many buildings in the state were not exposed to the same severity of the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, at dawn on Monday, which reached 7.8 degrees.
“We’ve experienced magnitude 7.8 earthquakes in our past, and it’s important to be prepared for these possibilities in the future,” said Kate Sharer, a researcher at the US Geological Survey.
History of earthquakes in california
The state of California was already subjected to devastating earthquakes, including an earthquake in 1906 that destroyed a large part of the city of San Francisco, the cultural and commercial center in the state, and another earthquake that occurred in 1857, as a result of a rupture in the San Andres fault.
“There will be a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the future. It will definitely happen,” said seismologist Lucy Jones.
But she stressed that there is no way to know when this earthquake will happen.
Although the massive destruction in Syria and Turkey as a result of the earthquake can be attributed to the fact that many buildings were built before modern building codes, and the breach of building rules by contractors, engineers confirmed that the damage will be great in California, although not as great.
Engineers warn of the possibility of the collapse of fragile concrete buildings, as happened in the earthquakes of 1971 and 1994, and in the first earthquake, a hospital collapsed in an accident that killed 49 people.
Although the basic requirements for construction were modified following the first earthquake, this did not affect only new buildings, and therefore the state witnessed the collapse of many concrete buildings in the 1994 earthquake.
Shocking expectations
There were alarming expectations about the losses of the supposed earthquake, if it occurred in California.
The US Geological Survey conducted a simulation of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hitting southern California, and concluded that it could kill 1,800 people, injure about 50,000, and destroy many facilities that carry fuel, energy and water.
Earthquakes that occur at the boundaries of tectonic plates account for about 90 percent of all earthquakes, and are among the most dangerous.
Tectonic earthquakes are characterized by:
- Its intensity is extremely huge.
- Its influence extends over a wide area.
- It causes destruction and results in a large number of victims.
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