Simulation of future San Andreas earthquake

PLEASE READ: This is a visualization of the shaking produced by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake beginning at the southernmost end of the San Andreas fault in southern California. The animation here is 11 seconds, however the actual earthquake shaking shown would last about 4 minutes. The dashed line is the segment of the fault where one side will move up to 20 feet relative to the other side. The colors represent the intensity of shaking as the waves travel away from the fault. Note how shaking continues in the Los Angeles area for much longer than elsewhere. This is because of the deep layers of sediment that have filled in the "L.A. Basin" and other areas, that amplify the shaking. The video was made at the San Diego Supercomputer Center as part of a Southern California Earthquake Center project called TeraShake (http://www.scec.org/terashake).

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• san
• andreas
• earthquake
• southern
• California
• preparedness
• science
• visualization

[californiafrontier]

I heard that because of the mountains surrounding LA, the earthquake waves would just bounce off them and come back towards the city.

[SCECmovies]

Not exactly- it's actually more about the valleys full of sediment in the LA area. When waves enter these valleys they slow down and their amplitude increases. The valleys are along the mountain fronts, full of the sediments that have eroded from the mountains. Because of where they are located and oriented, they direct this amplified shaking into the highly populated areas of Los Angeles.

[SCECmovies]

This is a visualization of the shaking produced by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake beginning at the southernmost end of the San Andreas fault in southern California. Note how shaking continues in the Los Angeles area for much longer than elsewhere. The actual earthquake shaking shown would last about 4 minutes. The video was made at the San Diego Supercomputer Center as part of a Southern California Earthquake Center project called TeraShake.

[GTA2008]

its gonna happen!!!

[SCECmovies]

Shaking will most likely be most intense in the Coachella Valley and other areas close to the San Andreas fault. Some areas away from the fault may shake for a long time and with large back-and-forth motions, but the most violent shaking will be near the fault. So it is urgent for those along the fault to prepare!

[chucknorrisownsall]

Eventually we will get the big one. But another region you really don't want to be in is in the pacific northwest region of the US. Supposedly theres a major subduction zone right off the coast of oregon and washington. It is capable of producing an earthquake similar to the one that occured in the indian ocean 5 years ago. They may be due for one and when it does occur a tsunami will follow and it could be just as catastrophic as the one in the indian ocean. the tsunami could strike california.

[SailorBabe]

I have looked at this model several times, and I have a question. If a major quake breaks along the southern edge of the San Andreas, why does your mock up not head south towards the Salton Sea? Also, please explain why there seems to be an amplification along the San Jacinto's pass area when yui say soft sedimentry rock causes amplification. I thought the SAF took a sharp nothernly break at Whitewater CA and ran north of Palmdale. cont...

[davidrobertcurry]

Thanks...I have added this to the scivisualization group...I would be very interested in a summary of the visualization tools/software, etc. so it appears as an extension of the video itself (as in a reply to this message) David Curry