California's Looming Earthquake; Where 'The Big One' Might Occur

In California, a disaster will one day strike will be the costliest natural disaster in the history of the western hemisphere. This will occur due to a major magnitude 7.8 to 8.3 earthquake from the San Andreas Fault; an event which is referred to as "the big one". So, where exactly might this event be centered? This video will discuss the San Andreas Fault, and where this next major earthquake is most likely to be centered.

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Google Earth imagery used in this video: ©Google & Data Providers

Various licenses used in sections of this video (not the entire video, this video as a whole does not completely fall under one of these licenses) and/or in this video's thumbnail image (and this list does not include every license used in this video and/or thumbnail image):

Sources/Citations:
[1] U.S. Geological Survey
[2] Sieh, Stuiver, and Brillinger, 1989

0:00 California's Major Earthquake
0:16 The Big One
1:18 Plate Tectonics & Faulting
2:32 Northern San Andreas Fault
3:24 Central San Andreas Fault
4:28 Southern San Andreas Fault
5:32 Paleolake Cahuilla

[GeologyHub]

I want to note that faults adjacent to the San Andreas Fault can still produce damaging earthquakes, such as on the Rodgers Creek and Hayward Faults. The aforementioned faults are part of the so-called "San Andreas Fault Zone".

This video was posted 30 minutes earlier, but I deleted and reuploaded it due to a mistake I made where I called the Pacific Plate the Eurasian Plate by mistake. I thus fixed my mistake and reuploaded the same video. So yes, this is still completely new content :).

[mlbs]

Even though my dad was 5 years old and living in Texas, he remembered the 1906 Great San Francisco Earthquake. He remembered helping bring clothes and blankets to the railroad station to be sent west.

[josuna]

I’m born and raised in Los Angeles the spooky thing about todays South Pasadena earthquake was how long it lasted, we usually shimmy side to side for about 5secs and go on with our day but this felt like something dropped and swayed and swayed for a good 10-15secs.. I thought it was going to get bigger 😭.. 32yo and this was the only earthquake to ever get me a bit nervous..

[grayaj]

I used to joke with people from out of state that earthquakes were no big deal and plus Californians are all surfers by nature so we'd just catch a tidal wave and ride it to Nevada. Loma Prieta cured me of that cavalier attitude. After a week of aftershocks I was ready to go quietly nuts.

It's hard to grasp how important "standing on solid ground" is. When the ground turns to jello under your feet... well let's just say it had an effect on me.

[arosad]

We just had a 4.9 about 30 minutes ago lol

[-Loc]

We just had Ah Magnitude 5.3 in Bakersfield CA

[TheSpaceEnthusiast-vlwx]

Thanks as always, Geology Hub! This was very informative!

[tofubean]

I just watched your video an hour ago- 5.3 recorded near Bakersfield a few seconds ago

[mikebrennan]

We grew up in the 1970s and 80s worrying about Los Angeles in the "big one". Then it came to light that a smaller fault, the Newport-Inglewood fault presented the bigger danger. It's So Cal's version of the Hayward fault. Now there is the poorly understood Palos Verdes fault that is cause for concern where I live.

[robinguertin]

Thank you, GH. That was very informative & interesting.

[AtomicCoyote]

IMO, a full rupture of the Cascadia Subduction Zone (producing a 9+ quake) would be significantly worse.

[deepfryerhouse]

Bakersfield just had a 5.1 the other day…and this video makes it feel like if anyone’s screwed, it’s us 🤣

[jur]

Can you do a video about the cascadia fault line that's north of this one? there's an subduction zone which can potentially produce an earthquake up to 9 on the scale of richter. It would make 'the big one' look like a 'small one'.

[CreamyItalian]

I grew up in Hollister during the 80s and 90s. We had earthquake drills regularly and the threat was always known. But I would rather be in an area where earthquakes occurred rather than hurricanes or tornados.

[EarthquakeSim]

It's interesting that we are both covering the same topics on our YouTube channels today! :) I've simulated a subway station located directly on the San Andreas fault, experiencing various levels of ground offsets.

[htaylor]

When I read academic papers I now imagine your voice narrating them, specifically the intonation 😂

[jake.notfromstatefarm]

Hello from San Francisco! Thanks for making this video. Seismically speaking, it's been a little too quiet here lately...

[keiseyku]

Bakersfield/Lamont just got hit with a 5.7

[KillberZomLD]

Our Government in the Philippines have also been warning us for years for a possible event similar to this. We also call it the same. According to Phivolcs, it will mostly hit the most populated area of Metro Manila, but even us living far away from Manila are also being warned about it. But as someone who lives in Samar Island, i'm more concern about our tectonic boundary, as you could see in the Google Map, the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting underneath Sunda Plate and it looks like the area where our island is located seems to be the deepest, what if it suddenly snap like what happened in Japan in 2011, this is what scares me the most and we've been having numerous magnitude 3-6 earthquakes in recent years.

[bendoesvlogss]

We just had a 5.3 near baker field not long ago