Environment
Bay Area Cities Are 'Overdue' for a Massive Earthquake
Faults have stored up more than enough energy for a disaster, according to new research.
Here's discomforting news for Californians worried about the shifting ground under their toes: Four urban areas in the Bay Area have "stored enough energy to produce major earthquakes," according to new research.
Evidence that something nasty is rumbling comes from the behavior of the San Andreas fault system, which runs up the state and through San Francisco. When gargantuan blocks of the earth's crust press against each other, they can do a couple of things: One, they can slowly grind or "creep" against each other, a process that relieves stress. Two, they can butt heads and become "locked," a situation that causes energy to mount and mount until it's released in an earthquake.