California due for major earthquake, warns top seismologist

Sacramento (California), May 10: A top seismologist has warned that the San Andreas fault is "locked, loaded and ready to go" and a major earthquake is overdue in southern California, an 'Independent' report said.

Thomas Jordan, director of the Southern Californian Earthquake Centre, said this while speaking at an earthquake conference in Long Beach, leaving the local people worried, the report added.

The warning came just a few days in the wake of a legislation which was puched through the City Council by Los Angeles's Mayor Eric Garcetti asking for seeing into the vulnerable establishments in the city at the earliest so that they can survive a strong quake.

The Earthquake Centre also released a graphic that simulates the length the shaking would travel if the quake if of 8 magnitude, the report said.

Experts are worried that the San Andreas fault is may be due for a major quake. The last time the southern part was hit by a 7.9 quake was way back in 1857.

The tectonic plates that meet at the fault have been moving continuously at two inches annually. It suggests that over 159 years, there has been a shift of 26 feet as the pacific plate moves towards the northwest against the American continental plate, said the report.

According to the US Geological Survey, even a quake of 7.8 magnitude on the southern San Andreas Fault could lead to a huge loss of life and property.

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