An extensive fault that tracks the Pacific coast of North America from Canada to Northern California could trigger major quakes along California's San Andreas Fault, a new study suggests.
"The faults seem to be communicating with each other," said study leader Chris Goldfinger of Oregon State University.
The evidence came from core samples of marine sediments taken along the northern California seabed.
There, seismologists found 15 turbidites, sediment deposits that are created when an earthquake triggers an underwater landslide.
The turbidites correspond to earthquakes along the San Andreas Fault, including the great 1906 earthquake that destroyed large parts of San Francisco.
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| ©Robert E. Wallace, USGS
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| An aerial view of the San Andreas fault slicing through the Carrizo Plain in the Temblor Range east of San Luis Obispo, Calif.
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Comment: These researchers would benefit greatly from studying psychopathy and ponerology.