Seismologists say a 7.8 magnitude earthquake will strike the San Andreas Fault and is expected to cause $1 trillion in damage and lost wages, just in the city of Los Angeles alone.
We just don't know when it will happen.
Caltech seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones told KNX News’ Emily Valdez that hundreds of USC researchers are updating the 2008 ShakeOut report.
“We have a lot better data, and I think we can get a much more accurate picture,” she said.
Dr. Jones says what we will see will likely look like the 2023 earthquake in Turkey - non-retrofitted concrete buildings crumbling, people buried in rubble, no water, no communications, and widespread fires.
“Last time we ended up saying 200 million square feet of properties would be burnt in these fires, and that was assuming there it was a calm, cool day, no Santa Anas, and that didn't mean much,” she said. “Now we can say that's 10 times the amount of burnt houses as we saw in the combined Eaton and Palisades fire.”
She also said we are far from earthquake-resistant.
“We've retrofitted our gas lines but not our water lines, so all of the imported water that comes into Southern California has to cross the San Andreas Fault to get to us, and all of those aqueducts are as vulnerable as they were in 2008,” she said.
Dr. Jones suggests always having several weeks' worth of bottled water and food at your home. The ShakeOut 2.0 report will be released in 2028.
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