Across California, 333 earthquakes have hit in 24 the last hours. Some of these are clustered along the San Andreas fault line, whilst others have taken place between Trona and Coso Junction. Of these earthquakes, seven have registered magnitude 2.5 or higher.
The strongest of these was a magnitude-3.6 and struck 12km south-southwest of Searles Valley at 1pm local time.
The next strongest was a magnitude-3.0 quake which hit 7km east-southeast of Ridgecrest, California.
California is no stranger to earthquakes and is located on the explosive Ring of Fire.
The Ring of Fire is a horseshoe-shaped ring in the Pacific Ocean which spans along a 25,000-mile arc from the boundary of the Pacific Plate, along to the Cocos and Nazca Plates which are along the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
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Around 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes and 81 percent of the world’s largest quakes take place along the Ring of Fire.
In California, the largest damaging earthquake occurred in the city of Ridgecrest on July 4, 2019.
This measured magnitude-6.4 and was followed by more than 150 aftershocks – one of which measured magnitude-7.1.
At 7.1, this quake was the largest to hit southern California since 1999.
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This earthquake stoked fears of a ‘Big One’ similar to the 7.9 quake which destroyed much of San Francisco in 1906.
A hypothetical Big One could reach magnitude 8 or higher and is believed to hit California every few hundred years.
However, it is unknown when this could occur, with the United States Geological Survey saying on their website: “The paleoseismic data on different parts of the San Andreas Fault Zone are all telling us that some sections appear to be past the average, or ‘overdue’ for a significant earthquake.
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“But the data can’t be used to make predictions: we do not understand earthquakes well enough to know exactly where the next earthquake will occur, what the magnitude will be, or exactly when it will happen.”
Elsewhere, a magnitude-4.8 quake struck 93km northeast of Laiwui, Indonesia today.
South America has also felt some strong tremors, with a magnitude-4.8 striking 19km south-southwest of Jiquilillo, Nicaragua, and a 4.7 quake hitting 20km south of Huayuchachi, Peru.
A magnitude-4.6 quake was also felt 137km east-southeast of Iquique, Chile earlier today.