At a national conference on earthquakes this past week, an expert on the San Andreas fault warned that the infamous tectonic boundary appears poised to pop.
Thomas Jordan of the Southern California Earthquake Center described the worrisome fault line as "locked, loaded and ready to go" in his address to attendees.
Most troubling may be that a lack of big earthquakes along the 800-mile long fault over the last 100 years indicates that there is considerable pressure between the tectonic plates that is not being eased.
"The springs on the San Andreas system have been wound very, very tight," Thomas warned at the conference.
Since nothing can be done to artificially release that pressure along the fault, the earthquake expert stressed that California needs to be more prepared for the 'big one' which seems to be imminent.
Strengthening buildings and critical infrastructure systems now, rather than waiting to recover after the disaster strikes, could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars.
Hopefully the political obstacles facing such projects can be overcome while there is still time before the 'big one' hits.
Source: LA Times