California has always been edgy about earthquakes and faults. The San Andreas Fault is perhaps the most well-known of the faults that are on or near it. There are other faults as well, and two of those faults have been found near the San Francisco area.
According to Phys Org the two most dangerous faults near the Bay Area are connected to each other. This poses a double threat, since both could have the tendency to rupture at the same time. San Francisco and its surrounding areas are also densely populated, adding to the danger that the two faults pose.
One of those faults is the Hayward Fault, which has been fairly known for a long time. However, a lesser-known fault joins it. At the San Pablo Bay area, just beneath it lies the second fault joined to the Hayward Fault. The two faults are in densely populated areas in or near San Francisco.
The two faults simultaneously rupturing could produce an earthquake of at least magnitude 7.4. This has been the assessment of geologists in the U.S. Geological Survey. The Hayward Fault has not seen any movement for 140 years, so there is a possibility of it causing a major earthquake should it start to move.
A team of geologists led by Janet Watt from the U.S. Geological Survey has discovered the second fault, as Popular Mechanics reports. David Ponce, a member of the team, has said that the longer that a fault stretches, the bigger would be the magnitude of the earthquake produced. The Hayward Fault and the Rodgers Creek Fault stretches for 115 miles together.
The Hayward Fault runs for 62 miles from San Jose to San Pablo Bay. It also passes through Berkeley and Oakland. The Rodgers Creek Fault is 52 miles long running north of the bay. The last time Hayward Fault moved was in 1868 with a magnitude 6.8 earthquake.
"This should be a reminder that folks in the Bay Area need to be prepared for a major earthquake," Watt has said through email. An earlier report has also found a new fault running along Southern California.
