USGS: The odds of a major earthquake hitting California have increased

An image showing shockwaves from an earthquake.
(Image credit: David McNew/Getty Images)

The likelihood that California will experience an earthquake of magnitude 8 or higher in the next 30 years has gone up from 4.7 percent to about 7 percent, a new assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey says.

"The new likelihoods are due to the inclusion of possible multi-fault ruptures, where earthquakes are no longer confined to separate, individual faults, but can occasionally rupture multiple faults simultaneously," lead author and U.S. Geological Survey scientist Ned Field told CBS News. "This is a significant advancement in terms of representing a broader range of earthquakes throughout California's complex fault system."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.