California's Next Big Earthquake Could Be Near Salton Sea

SALTON SEA, CA -- A recently released study by the Geological Society of America found that California's next big earthquake could hit on the southern part of the San Andreas fault zone near the Salton Sea.

Researchers detailed geologic and structural mapping of the fault line's southern 15 miles and found that it has a "highly faulted volume of rock" that is between one to four kilometers wide.

The study, titled "Lithosphere," details the "previously unknown active fault using geophysical and geologic datasets along the entire northeast margin of Coachella Valley," the group said.

"New and published geophysical data sets and drill hole data in Coachella Valley show that the East Shoreline fault is a voluminous fault zone that extends in all three dimensions," the Geological Society of America said in a press release. "The component of shortening across the southernmost San Andreas fault zone gives way along strike to components of extension in the Brawley Seismic Zone within a defined transition zone. This geometry makes it likely that both fault zones could fail during a single earthquake, as suggested by prior research."

Despite the new findings, researchers wrote that more studies need to be conducted to understand "the risk posed" by the fault.

Read the full study here.

--Photo courtesy of the Geological Society of America