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AVA NORGROVE, ANCHOR:
There’s been a spate of magnitude 5 earthquakes in the North State in the last few months: in Humboldt County, Lake Almanor and most recently near Burney in Shasta County. What’s going on? Is the North State becoming more seismically active? NSPR’s Ken Devol asked an expert.
KEN DEVOL, REPORTER:
Todd Greene chairs the earth and environmental sciences department at Chico State.
GREENE: “Yeah there’s always earthquakes going on, on the 2.0 to 3.0 scales and we just don’t feel them. Once in a while they just reach up into the 5.0s. I think it’s interesting for sure. Just let everybody know that even though you’re not on the San Andreas fault, there’s still active faults in California.”
These aren’t concerning, Greene says. But there are two areas north of Sacramento along major faults that are potentially concerning, off the Humboldt coast and along the Sierra. But interior Northern California is relatively quiet.
GREENE: “I think we have much bigger issues with fires, and drought and homelessness. There’s a big list there but earthquakes I think don’t make that list.”
He says predicting where and when a quake might occur is difficult and mostly relies on historical data. The California ShakeAlert system which sends out real-time warnings when an event is imminent will at most give a minute or two of notice, often much less.
According to Greene, more investment in technology, and more sensors, could improve the system’s effectiveness but there won’t likely be any dramatic improvements in earthquake prediction anytime soon.