By Rong-Gong Lin II – Re-Blogged From Los Angeles Times
A major California fault capable of producing a magnitude 8 earthquake has begun moving for the first time on record, a result of this year’s Ridgecrest earthquake sequence destabilizing nearby faults, Caltech scientists say in a new study released in the journal Science on Thursday.
In the modern historical record, the 160-mile-long Garlock fault on the northern edge of the Mojave Desert has never been observed to produce either a strong earthquake or even to creep.
Buckled asphalt in a parking lot in Argus, Calif., after the Ridgecrest earthquakes in July.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)