Newly discovered fault line along San Andreas could unleash major California earthquake

California may experience a massive earthquake along a newly discovered fault line, researchers announced Tuesday.
A study released by the U.S Geological Survey warns that a 7.4-magnitude earthquake could strike along the San Andreas Fault — which could impact about 20 million Los Angeles and San Diego residents.
“You expect that amount of accumulation of energy will be released in the future in a large-magnitude rupture, somewhere along the San Andreas,” USGS research geologist Kate Scharer said, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The fault runs underwater from San Diego, through Orange County to the Los Angeles basin, researchers said.
Movement detected on both sides of San Andreas fault
Experts who studied the site near Frazier Mountain concluded earthquakes happen on an average 100 years.

The 1933 Long Beach, Calif. earthquake claimed 120 lives.

(H.M. Engle/AP)

The Fort Tejon 7.9-magnitude earthquake in 1857 was the last major earthquake to occur along the San Andreas Fault, which killed two people.
If another earthquake was to strike, the impact could resemble that of the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which devastated Los Angeles and reportedly cost $42 billion in damages.
A report released in November states that the earthquake could damage at least 3.5 million homes and cost a whopping $289 billion to repair damages.
San Andreas fault ‘ready to go,’ expert warns of major earthquake
Other earthquakes with a magnitude between 5 and 6 could also “have a major impact in those regions,” Scharer said.

The Long Beach earthquake occured on the Newport-Inglewood fault.

(T.J. Maher/AP)

The 1933 Long Beach earthquake occurred on the Newport-Inglewood fault with a magnitude of 6.4 that resulted in 120 deaths.
Researchers urge residents not to panic, but to prepare in case of seismic activity.
"Large, but less damaging earthquakes, like magnitude 7.5, may be the more typical type of occurrence along this stretch of the fault," Robert Graves, a USGS geophysicist, said.

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