Earthquake! (Or Not)

We're all gonna DIE!!! If you live in Southern Kali-pornia, that is...

USGS says the most recent major earthquakes in the northern and central zones of the San Andreas fault were in 1857 and 1906.

Fialko said there were three possible explanations for the lack of observed movement in the southern section -- creepage under the surface that had no external manifestation, that it simply might not move as much as the rest or a major blockage.

"Except for the first possibility above, the continued quiescence increases the likelihood of a future event," he wrote.

Making calculations based on a wide range of land and satellite observations, he discounted the idea of creepage and warned of impending disaster.

Of course he did, otherwise Reuters would not have sent someone to interview him and put his name in the newspapers.

"Regardless of fault geometry and mechanical properties of the ambient crust, results presented in this study lend support to intermediate-term forecasts of a high probability of major earthquakes on the southern SAF system," Fialko said.

Wow. Don't back yourself into a corner, buddy...