Researchers have revealed a newly discovered fault line running parallel to the San Andreas fault in Southern California.
The new Salton Trough Fault, which runs parallel to the San Andreas Fault, could impact current seismic hazard models in the earthquake-prone region that includes the greater Los Angeles area, seismologists say. The newly identified strike-slip fault within the Salton Sea, just west of the San Andreas Fault,
is in an area where a swarm of nearly 200 small earthquakes hit last week, raising concerns they might trigger a larger earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault. ‘To aid in accurately assessing seismic hazard and reducing risk in a tectonically active region, it is crucial to correctly identify and locate faults before earthquakes happen,’ said Valerie Sahakian, a Scripps alumna, and lead author of the study. READ MORE
