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Southern California Faults Hit a 1,000-Year Stress Peak. Is a Megaquake Next?

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Californians have been worried about “the Big One” for decades. That one massive, apocalyptic earthquake that will rip the state to shreds. While those fears have not yet borne out, new research suggests that stress levels on major faults beneath Southern California are now so high that a catastrophic earthquake may be inevitable.

According to a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, tectonic stresses along Southern California’s two most dangerous fault systems, the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults, have reached their highest levels in at least 1,000 years.

However, the findings don’t predict an imminent earthquake. Even after years of technological advancement, earthquake prediction isn’t terribly reliable. The study isn’t 100 percent predicting........

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