PHOENIX (KPHO/KTVK) – “The big one” was set to hit Southern California Monday night, but nothing happened.
So, we went and asked the experts when they thought California and Arizona would be rocking.
The rumbles began last Monday in the Salton Sea near Bombay Beach. The trembles were not felt by many, but what started as one at a magnitude of 1.4 soon became hundreds with three of them measuring at a magnitude of 4.0.
“Right near the southern most end of the San Andreas Fault,” said Ramon Arrowsmith, a professor of geology at Arizona State University.
The quakes occurred in one of California’s most seismically complex areas. In the 1980s, a swarm hit that same area but “the big one” never came.
“That part of the San Andreas Fault hasn’t seen an earthquake for almost 300 years,” Arrowsmith said.
Meaning, it’s had plenty of time to build the friction it needs.
“It’s kind of like when you snap your fingers, you know, you load them up and then at some point it exceeds the strength of the interface and it slips,” Arrowsmith said.
“The big one” would impact Arizona.
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