The next big blockbuster movie is expected to be ‘San Andreas’ starring ‘The Rock’, Dwayne Johnson. The movie will be released this weekend (5/29).

The San Andreas Fault is considered the most dangerous earthquake fault on the planet because of its length. It runs through California and is 800 miles long. The San Andreas produces some big earthquakes, but a magnitude-9 or larger is almost impossible because the fault isn’t long or steep enough.

In the movie, a previously unknown fault near the Hoover Dam ruptures and jiggles the San Andreas and California is rocked by a 9.6 earthquake. The first hits Southern California followed by a second in Northern California. All ‘heck’ breaks loose with skyscrapers crumbling, fire erupting, a tsunami crashes the Golden Gate Bridge and the famous Hollywood sign falls.

Even though a 9.6 magnitude earthquake isn’t possible for the San Andreas Fault, that doesn’t mean a smaller one wouldn’t cause plenty of damage. In 1906 a magnitude-7.8 hit San Francisco and turned the city to rubble. Today, an earthquake that size could cause 18,000 deaths, 50,000 injuries and brick and high-rise buildings would collapse. The cost would be astronomical.

Computer models show the San Andreas could cause an earthquake of 8.3, but anything larger is doubtful.

 

 

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