Conditions Ripe Along Southern Andreas Fault For Major Quake, Study Finds

PALM DESERT, CA - JULY 04: Dawn comes to Palm Desert in the Coachella Valley where desert cities such as Palm Springs may be threatened by a major earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault on July 4, 2006 near Palm Desert, California. Scientists have warned that after more than 300 years with very little slippage, the southern end of the 800-mile-long San Andreas fault north and east of Los Angeles has built up immense pressure and could produce a massive earthquake at any time. Such a quake could produce a sudden lateral movement of 23 to 32 feet which would be would be among the largest ever recorded. By comparison, the 1906 earthquake at the northern end of the fault destroyed San Francisco with a movement of no more than about 21 feet. Experts have concluded that a quake of magnitude-7.6 or greater on the lower San Andreas could kill thousands of people in the Los Angeles area with damages running into the tens of billions of dollars. The San Andreas Fault is where the Pacific and the North American tectonic plates of the Earth?s crust collide. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)