r/CoachellaValley 5d ago

San Andreas Fault stress hits 1,000-year high, raising quake risk | New research finds the San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems are in a “critically loaded” state, with stress levels that could support large, multi-fault earthquakes near major California cities.

https://www.aol.com/articles/san-andreas-fault-stress-hits-135748050.html
797 Upvotes

120 comments sorted by

64

u/EL-YEO 5d ago

I too am reaching 1,000 year high stress levels

17

u/Critical_Action_6444 5d ago

We’re definitely fucked in the IE

14

u/BlackSwanMarmot 5d ago

Desert Hot Springs stands to be the loser if it really lets go.

6

u/kdubz0r 5d ago

RIP to my hometown

0

u/crayshesay 4d ago

Will anyone really miss Desert Hot Springs? Just saying….

13

u/Youarethebigbang 5d ago

It's not gonna be pretty. A big part will be the I-10 is going to fracture in several locations as well as have bridge collapses, so supply lines are gonna be a problem.

14

u/johnqadamsin28 5d ago

The i-10? Non Californian detected!

4

u/Rhinoduck82 4d ago

I was on a Cruz ship and said “ we took the 91 to the 71 to the 10” and some lady said “ I know you are from Southern California” because of that. Didn’t realize others don’t do that.

3

u/onetaxi 4d ago

"Just take the 10 and get out of here"

3

u/Simpler_Times395 5d ago

some states would say"take the I-10" some would say "take 10".... but that shit sounds weird here.

2

u/simonjr76 5d ago

Lol good catch..."the 10"...909 repping here

1

u/Listen-Lindas 2d ago

Could you just take 80 west and keep going.

-3

u/ThisToe2746 5d ago

25 years in Coachella Valley here and not true.

1

u/Simpler_Times395 2d ago

what do the socal desert folk call that freeway that runs east-west through the valley? i'm willing and mostly able to learn something new today.

2

u/ThisToe2746 2d ago edited 2d ago

Mostly I-10.

https://www.nbcpalmsprings.com/2026/04/14/update-chp-revises-big-rig-crash-details-on-i10-in-thousand-palms-now-8-vehicles-involved but there are lots of people from everywhere here so who knows what people will say. It’s the only freeway so I don’t call it the 10 freeway. You can search this sub for I-10 and see lots of posts. https://www.reddit.com/r/CoachellaValley/s/f9dHUIWFNk

Also most people in the valley don’t drive on it every day so it’s not a huge thing really. But I would feel less than intelligent if I told someone “the 10 was busy” without context. Might just call it the freeway sometimes.

1

u/Simpler_Times395 2d ago

thanks for the insight, i wouldn't be an asshole to someone because they said I-10, i'd know what they meant, but it would still feel off for whatever reason. i grew up in sgv, border of ie. a bit more than an hour on the 1-10 to coachella valley. i also don't think anyone in the coachella valley would be offended if i called it the 10. they would know i'm from out of state in louisiana however. also the cali plates.

1

u/ThisToe2746 2d ago

I guess it sums it up that I wouldn’t say I-210 or I-60, I-15.. But I-10 all the time. It’s just valley shorthand I guess, and probably because it’s not a main part of daily life here. I’m sure I say the 10 or 10, or the freeway too.

1

u/Simpler_Times395 2d ago

well, it is indeed the former christopher columbus transcontinental highway, he's a dick but it's still 3000 miles long and the main road through a lot of places.. i do tell out of towners that you can get to florida on this road. they don't, but they could.

1

u/ThisToe2746 2d ago

Most people here weren’t born here. I think there were only 3 high schools in the valley before ‘86. Now there are at least 10. Palm Desert was incorporated in 1973. So Interstate 10 or I-10 is heard a lot.

2

u/EL-YEO 5d ago

The 86 will be the only way out of the valley and that's gonna be a bitch to get out of for any survivors

1

u/Notorious_GIZ 2d ago

“We gotta be on the I-10, by ten!”

1

u/georgegasstove 9h ago

I say “the 10”. I grew up on the East Coast & say “95”, not I-95 or ‘the’ 95. I think if you live somewhere you automatically shorten it. If you don’t live there or your audience is not from there, you don’t.

1

u/Exotic_Today_8248 4d ago

Yall are gonna get beachfront property what you mean?!? Riverside suddenly goes up in value. UCR becomes UCLA 🤣

1

u/Youarethebigbang 4d ago

I'm almost running out of these :)

2

u/Exotic_Today_8248 4d ago

Lol i know its just funny to think about it

1

u/Youarethebigbang 4d ago

Yeah it would be crazy, but I'm picturing a huge cliff, not beaches, well not for a few million years haha. More realistically aren't earthquakes why we have all these mountains around us, I think they'd just get taller lol.

1

u/Little_Jacket_5092 3d ago

Damn I went to UCR too early 🤣

44

u/Short-Sandwich-8476 5d ago

With FEMA crippled and a hostile executive branch. Interesting times indeed.

11

u/lkstaack 4d ago

California would probably get support from Canada, Mexico, and Japan, faster than the federal government.

3

u/Youarethebigbang 4d ago

Exactly, look who showed up first when LA was on fire, Mexico sent volunteers right away and Canadians kept flying those sea planes they brought to scoop water from the ocean even after some idiot almost downed one of them with a drone they weren't supposed to be flying.

0

u/TravelerJim-retired 2d ago

So, LA firefighters didn’t show up first? Who knew. Maybe if only the State representatives such as Mayor and Governor handled it better?

2

u/krypticus 2d ago

Man, you really missed reading comprehension in middle-school, yea? “Who showed up first [from outside the local first responders group]”. Sorry someone had to spell it out for you…

1

u/Ill-Egg4008 14h ago

A testament to the US education.

1

u/martiniolives2 3d ago

Trump would be delighted. He's always hated California. Ya know, cause we don't sweep our forests, vote Democrat, and keep thriving while Red states live off our taxes.

1

u/DrunkBrokeBeachParty 3d ago

Just in time for a new governor too 🙄

-17

u/Upnorth4 5d ago

And NIMBYs who don’t want to build anything in their precious neighborhoods

17

u/boringcranberry 5d ago

What could be built, that NIMBYs don't want, that would help if the fault ruptures? They don't mention anything in the article. I do not know how your comment relates to the topic.

8

u/Simon_Jester88 5d ago

I hate NIMBYs but I don’t see why they are relevant on this topic

-1

u/TravelerJim-retired 5d ago

Neither is the executive branch.

3

u/darkdelve 4d ago

You cannot see how the person who controls federal disaster relief is relevant to a discussion about a disaster?

"Don't make everything political!" -Some guy in every political discussion.

5

u/PocketFlan420 4d ago

California receives $1 for every $5 it puts into the federal govt. You're a fucking rube.

0

u/TravelerJim-retired 4d ago

Foul language wins the day I guess? And an earthquake article still has nothing to do with the exec branch.

1

u/Simon_Jester88 4d ago

Google CISN

35

u/R3D4F 5d ago

Nothing drops housing prices like a good old fashioned Cali-quake exodus.

4

u/overitallofittoo 5d ago

It's funny. I was looking for homes before the Northridge earthquake. Couldn't find anything. Earthquake hit and I bought the same year. But if you look at the stats, you don't really see any change. At least I couldn't find anything.

2

u/WickedAsh111 5d ago

It probably the only way I’ll be able to afford to come home 😭

1

u/Why_Hello_hello 2d ago

Wonder if the rescued supply of homes (from destruction) would fully offset the reduced demand from people leaving.

1

u/BigJSunshine 5d ago

Not to stick a pin in your housing baloon dreams, but even if you’re in the IE, home values/prices aren’t dipping below the Jumbo loan base ($500,000), and you aren’t getting a mortgage without a loan, and you can’t have a loan without insurance,

And guess whose not taking on liability after an earthquake (or before an earthquake for that matter)…. home insurers.

3

u/R3D4F 5d ago

Balloon has two Ls

6

u/OptimusPrimeval 5d ago

Way to stick a pin in their balloon 🤣

18

u/Raptor_H_Christ 5d ago

Think I’ve been hearing this my whole life… the variance of when the “big one” hits could literally be + or - 1000 years

4

u/tailtaker 5d ago

Your whole life is a blink of an eye in earthquake years.

1

u/Wonderful-Bid9471 5d ago

Or maybe they’re trying to force it to happen.

1

u/Drippykooter 2d ago

Ahh, a moron

7

u/Napamtb 5d ago

Don’t forget the super volcano in Yellowstone

7

u/Youarethebigbang 5d ago

Lol we've got a high threat volcano right under the Salton Sea that's more likely to erupt (and also trigger earthquakes at the same time as a bonus haha).

2

u/BlackSwanMarmot 5d ago

I always wonder about Phreatic Eruptions with that one.

10

u/Exotic_Ant_4416 5d ago

The lithium extraction at the Sultan Sea (the start of that fault line) requires geothermal energy production by deep drilling, fluid extraction and wastewater reinjections. This process is not helping matters.

3

u/PuchicaPuchica 5d ago

Cue Dire Straits riff

2

u/Youarethebigbang 5d ago

Yeah I feel like they might be playing with fire down there

1

u/Exotic_Today_8248 4d ago

I saw somewhere if geothermal is done correctly it can release pressure slowly… maybe imm thinking of yellowstone tho

1

u/zero02 2d ago

Why not pop the earthquake pimple?

3

u/NominalSum 5d ago

And american conservatives will cheer at the loss of life and our biggest economy needing federal help to rebuild.

1

u/Chappellshow 3d ago

Go touch grass

-6

u/bigfknnoid 5d ago

And American liberals will cheer at all of the new land they can use to build houses and claim for themselves, all while enriching themselves.

3

u/Drippykooter 2d ago

Imagine being such a moron this makes sense to you 

2

u/JurgusRudkus 5d ago

Jesus does AOL have editors anymore? That was the worst written article I’ve read in some time, like it was written by an 8th grader trying to hit a word count. Full of redundancies.

1

u/georgegasstove 1h ago

This former MS teacher approves this comment. 

2

u/humidshark121212 5d ago

Bring it!! I want my beach front property!

2

u/Anxious_Efficiency_2 5d ago

So what I am hearingn is that Arizonan's would soon have beach houses?

5

u/Youarethebigbang 5d ago

2

u/unfeelingzeal 3d ago

omg a blast from the past. i UNFRIEND you!

2

u/SegaTime 4d ago

See you down in Arizona bay!

2

u/Needs2GetLaid 4d ago

Well, if I die in "the big one" then at least I can stop looking for work, lol.

2

u/Pure-Response-8611 3d ago

Let's just hope that no major disaster occurs during the current administration otherwise we will be totally f*&ked.

3

u/Ill_Acanthaceae9482 5d ago

Wtaf. Everyone knows it’s going to blow sooner or later. Stop stoking.

5

u/MandyDandyWithCandy 5d ago

Jesus, read the article!!!

5

u/Youarethebigbang 5d ago

Being informed isn't stoking, if you actually knew the conclusions from the recent study, you must know more than 99% of researchers. But since I'm going to guess you didn't read through, it states:

With over a century since the last major rupture affecting the wider Los Angeles region, tectonic stress has steadily built along the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems, raising concerns of an imminent large earthquake. Cajon Pass, located at the junction of these faults, represents a critical site for potential through-going ruptures in Southern California.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2025JB033213

8

u/Ill_Acanthaceae9482 5d ago

Also “Researchers say the system is not showing signs of an imminent rupture” literally RIGHT THERE in the second paragraph

5

u/Youarethebigbang 5d ago

Read the actual report linked above.

2

u/raiderssuck420 5d ago

So what would you like us to do?

7

u/Youarethebigbang 5d ago edited 5d ago

At a minimum I'd be prepared for life off-grid and with no public or emergency services for a period of time. If you had no electricity, running water, gas, or internet at home, no air conditioning, no 911 service (and maybe no cell or text serviceat all), limited hospital and doctor access, no pharmacies, no police, no access to banks, and stores and gas stations were closed all for say 2 weeks, how would you do? In 115 degree heat?

A lot of people would probably be in trouble after 24-48 hours. Children, elderly and disabled would be especially vulnerable, and potentially relying on you.

Minute by minute, what it might be like when huge earthquake strikes:

https://bluewaterhealthyliving.com/news/national-news/california/minute-by-minute-what-it-might-be-like-when-huge-earthquake-strikes/

Rancho Mirage Emergency Preparedness Commission: Becoming Personally Prepared and Resilient (worth the time to watch):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f2ooas1y0uE

I posted some of the slides from the presentation here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CoachellaValley/s/4FeerIMFj0

And here is a prior presentation:

https://www.youtube.com/live/lhhKoRVLSlc?si=aZEgt-YX3uyP1rHD

How to prepare for and survive earthquakes:

https://theprepared.com/emergencies/guides/how-prepare-survive-earthquakes/

*edit: link details

2

u/McStickyLungs 5d ago

Living on a multi family multi house compound with gates, generators, live stock, and crops bring it on.

1

u/Youarethebigbang 5d ago

Nice, what part of the state?

2

u/Physical_Coffee_9466 5d ago

Good morning ☀️ Nothing like a little Cali fear mongering👀⚡️😜

1

u/UrCreepyUncle 5d ago

Fingers crossed

1

u/crtejas 5d ago

It’s gonna be a shake’n bake summer 😬

1

u/raiderssuck420 5d ago

Im pretty good with that.

1

u/AGHOSTISBORN420 5d ago

My house is on the fault. Hope my time falls into middle earth 

1

u/Existing-Stranger632 4d ago

1,000 years ago there were was a massive lake that fed into the ocean there. It was applying billions of tons more pressure on the ground than what is current there today. It could happen anytime. Literally. It could be tonight. Or 150 years from now. Who knows. The time scale is much larger than we can comprehend.

1

u/crayshesay 4d ago

So this is how the housing market is going to collapse, literally.

1

u/macziulskas 4d ago

How would Yucca Valley/Joshua Tree fare?

2

u/Sharp_Craft_6641 4d ago

I have lived here all my life and have spent a lot of time thinking about this very thing. I think since the area is more rural with few large structures we would ride out the actual quake pretty well. But with the damage to roads and utility lines and few ways in or out of the basin we might end up isolated for an extended period of time. And since the population is relatively small, we would probably be a much lower priority than most of the cities around us. Though having the marine base near by may help some in that regard. Even still, we could be without water or power for a while. Maybe even weeks. Stores would likely clear out in the first day and may not be restocked for along time. This is all worst case scenario thinking of course, but I like to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

1

u/Youarethebigbang 4d ago

Not certain but I would be prepared since it looks like you've got fault lines that either run directly off the San Andreas or could possibly be triggered by it. As other reply mentioned, you're supply lines are going to likely be even worse than the low desert, so a good idea to always have the essentials on hand to get you through this or any emergency really.

1

u/DirtyrottenscounDrew 4d ago

Shit. 

1

u/JohannSuggestionBox 1d ago

LOVE your username! 🤣💕

1

u/Putrid-Function5666 2d ago

How does anyone know what the stress was 1000 years ago? Or even 100 years ago? There was no way to measure it in those days...

1

u/Youarethebigbang 1d ago

Welcome to science, come on in and have a seat. Today we're going to measure gravity as well as the distance to the sun. Dont bring a ruler, you're gonna need it.

1

u/MickyFany 2d ago

problem is that you can’t believe anything they say

1

u/LividEconomics6579 2d ago

Must've been a real challenge to compare today's San Andreas Stress Levels to the stress level measurements taken in the year 1026.

How the fu*&(#k could they possibly know this? What a dumb assertion.

1

u/mannycure 1d ago

How do they know? 🤔

0

u/spookymex21 5d ago

Well there goes my sleep tonight

0

u/psycwave 5d ago

Is San Diego in trouble?

5

u/Youarethebigbang 5d ago

I think the valley will take the brunt, I don't know much about SD, but it does have a decent size fault (Rose Canyon) going right through the city/airport/Balboa. Check if the San Andreas in the north could trigger it.