What is the Earthquake Risk in California?

We all know that California is earthquake country. Are you prepared to recover?

• Every day is earthquake season in California, with active faults crisscrossing the state.
• According the USGS, the San Andreas fault is over 800 miles long, with an intricate fault network and many smaller faults that branch from and join it.
• Northern California has the Hayward and Calaveras faults near the Bay Area, plus the Cascadia Subduction Zone farther north.
• Southern California has the Rose Canyon fault, San Jacinto, and Elsinore faults, plus other smaller active faults in the region.
• According to the City of Los Angeles and the University of California San Diego, many major earthquakes—such as Northridge in 1994 and Ridgecrest in 2019—occurred on faults that were unknown at the time.

• Learn more about known faults in your area by using the United States Geologic Survey (USGS)’s interactive fault map.

Do you know the importance of seismic retrofitting? Learn about geological risks for houses in California, discover available options, and get resources needed to prepare your older house against earthquake damage.