On April 18, 1906, an earthquake occurred in San Francisco, California. The richter magnitude was 7.8 and the epicenter was located on San Andres Fault. It was the worst natural disaster in American history.

The last major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault happened in 1812 over 200 years ago. It was jointly ruptured along with San Jacinto fault line. According to the geological survey, the faultline rupture occurs every 150 years. The 1812 earthquake caused 55,000 people to die and it had a cost of 200 million dollars.  

If an earthquake happens on San Andres Fault, its ground can stretches more than 800 miles across 3 countries and about 10 miles deep. One of the seismologist predicts that it will be a powerful earthquake along California’s coastal region. The earthquake’s force would not only lead to the damage of many buildings, but it would also cause a strong shake to occur far into the ocean’s depths.

Because of the strong forces that came from the San Andres and San Jacinto over 200 years ago, these earthquakes might very will occur in the near future. Once they occur again, they will cause huge issues for many residents in the area. The prediction of an earthquake is a very imprecise science that has been attempted many times without success.  Furthermore, basic weather does not have any kind of major impact of geological formations. This means that weather will not affect the geography that may cause earthquakes.   

Scientist Julian C. Lozos said: “If an earthquake occurs jointly, it will create a lot of pressure in San Andres Fault.” However, he can not accurately predict an earthquake that may or may not happen in the future because it’s hard to measure how the geography will impact the nature.

The geography of the San Andreas Fault is a complex mixture of crushed and broken rock. In 2004, researchers were working in the town of Parkfield, which is located directly on the San Andreas fault. They planned on drilling directly into the fault.

When researchers began their work in Parkfield, scientists predicted that  another earthquake would occur in 1993. However, it did not happen until 2004. Geography changes along with nature, which means there’s no accuracy.

– Cuishan Ma