Could monster 9.0-magnitude earthquake sink part of CA's coastal communities?

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Could a monster earthquake descend a information of Northern California? A caller survey calculates the hazard of wherever and however overmuch onshore could sink, but experts accidental there's thing other person to location that we should beryllium acrophobic about.

The Cascadia responsibility enactment is the absorption of the new survey conducted by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It breaks down the flooding imaginable a 9.0 earthquake could bring to the Pacific Northwest and the Northern California coastline.

It's a responsibility astir 700 miles long, moving from Northern California each the mode up to Vancouver, British Columbia, susceptible of producing a monolithic quake - which was past seen successful 1700.

While the survey could look alarming, it's a anticipation that has really been known for a fewer decades. But according to seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, the bigger interest is really successful Southern California.

Jones told Eyewitness News portion we could inactive spot harm for coastal areas, the responsibility enactment is offshore, truthful the heaviest shaking would beryllium underwater.

"So, fundamentally each of the seashore of Northern California, Oregon and Washington volition beryllium similar the San Fernando Valley successful the Northridge earthquake," Jones said. "We had 10 miles and this is going to beryllium 700 miles oregon thing similar that. So it's going to beryllium a overmuch larger country that is deed by the shaking."

The survey provides calculations of imaginable scenarios of wherever coastal areas could descend by respective feet.

"I deliberation the different facet arsenic benignant of the newsworthy reasoning astir it is what does it mean successful the clip of oversea level rise? And it's different compelling crushed to truly bash thing astir clime change," Jones said.

But Jones says the anticipation of this monster earthquake really isn't the worst-case scenario.

"The astir damaging earthquake I could deliberation astir is not adjacent connected the San Andreas, it would beryllium a magnitude 7.5 nether Los Angeles. Because the happening successful the westbound coast, wherever we person comparatively young rocks, compared to the eastbound seashore and they're softer then."

So wherever precisely are the astir concerning areas? Dr. Jones lists the faults susceptible of a 7-magnitude arsenic the Newport-Inglewood Fault, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Whittier and Puente Hills.

She says determination are astir 100 faults nether Los Angeles, but the worst exemplary output is the Puente Hills Fault - which runs close nether downtown L.A.

"It's atrocious luck if you hap to deed the period that we person the magnitude 9, but those 7s successful Los Angeles are much deadly," she said.