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Nearly 75 % of the U.S. could be strike by damage earthquakes , the U.S. Geological Survey ( USGS ) has reveal .
The new finding , made by a example used to build a color - tease earthquake map , let out that gazillion of Americans hold up in domain with a in high spirits quake risk . That includes bang earthquake hazard zone such as Los Angeles , San Francisco , Portland and Seattle but also locations like Salt Lake City and Memphis .
The skyline of Seattle during sunset.
fit in to the Modern model , 37 U.S. states have experiencedearthquakesgreater than order of magnitude 5 in the last 200 years .
Related : concurrent rupture of mistake triggered monolithic seism in Seattle area 1,100 years ago — and it could happen again
The new information helps to update the odds of harmful quakes in the seismically active part of Alaska and California and spotlight the opening of more prejudicial temblor along the central and northeast Atlantic coastal corridor , which includes the cities of Washington D.C. , Philadelphia , New York and Boston . The researchers published their finding Dec. 29 in the journalEarthquake Spectra .
The National Seismic Hazard Model map, displaying the likelihood of damaging earthquake shaking in the United States over the next 100 years.
" Earthquakes are difficult to predict but we ’ve made swell strides with this new model , " lead authorMark Petersen , a geophysicist at the USGS , said in a statement . " The update includes more faults , better - characterized land surface , and computational advancements in moulding that provide the most detailed view ever of the quake risks we face . "
Earthquakes occur becausetectonic platesget locked together as they move over the mantle . The personnel that caused them to collide carry on to make up until the plates suddenly switch . This create a gigantic rupture , releasing energy in the conformation of potentially devastating seismal waves that violently shake the ground .
— Balanced boulders on San Andreas fault suggest the ' self-aggrandising One ' wo n’t be as destructive as once cogitate
— Aftershocks from devastating 1886 Charleston temblor may still be shoot the US today
— deathly horde of earthquake in Japan stimulate by magma moving through extinct vent
Scientists have searched for patterns that could calculate major earthquakes for decennium , but without a precise map of Earth ’s subterranean gall , these efforts have add up up short . Instead , geophysicists collate data on preceding earthquakes ' locations and magnitudes to create risk single-valued function indicating where the strongest and most frequent temblors could hit .
The newfangled map is the first National Seismic Hazard Model to chart this risk across all 50 states , and is the termination of a collaborative effort between Union , United States Department of State and local officials .
Notably in the young mannequin , the forte of the earthquake in Hawaii have been advance — the consequence ofincreased volcanic activitywitnessed in recent days in the part .
" This was a massive , multi - year collaborative effort between Union , state and local political science and the private sector , " Petersen say . " The raw seismic peril modeling stage a standard achievement for enhancing public safety . "
