| Major L.A. Quake Threat May Be Posed by Overlooked Strand of the Southern San Andreas Fault
By AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE via Scitechdaily Addressing uncertainties about where large earthquakes are most likely to occur along the southern San Andreas fault, which splits into multiple strands east of Los Angeles, a new study identifies a strand that has largely flown under the radar of public concern as the region's greatest earthquake threat. The study determines that the Mission Creek strand, which passes through major water and power infrastructure for the greater Los Angeles region, may account for almost the entire slip rate of this portion of the fault, suggesting it may actually be the primary Pacific-North American plate boundary fault at this latitude. The San Andreas fault threatens large future earthquakes, since its southernmost section has not ruptured in almost 300 years and has accumulated significant strain. However, determining which of the region's multiple fault strands carries the brunt of this strain has proven challenging due to
