Earthquake and California under water???? Serious answers only!!!?

Question

After today earthquake in S Cali. I'm concerned about the future of this state. What big of an earthquake must there be to cause a vertical slip?? How much of a vertical slip would there be??

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_...

Thanks

Answer 1

about half the state would be underwater

Answer 2

There won't be a vertical slip. The fault in California is what's known as a strike slip fault, this means that the plates are moving horizontally past each other. The movement which triggers earthquakes on a strike slip is always in the horizontal plane. You need a normal or reverse fault for vertical movement and only a normal fault results in a drop in the ground level.

Answer 3

It'll probably have to rate a 10 on the richter scale to break the fault line. Maybe western california will become an island.

Answer 4

Sometime in the next 30 years, Cali's gonna have HUGE deadly earthquakes.

Answer 5

there's gonna be another one soon.

Answer 6

Why do people freak out when earthquakes happen. Then they start making up false stories about what will happen.

FAQ - Common Myths about Earthquakes

Q: Will California eventually fall off into the ocean?

A: No. The San Andreas Fault System, which crosses California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north, is the boundary between the Pacific Plate and North American Plate. The Pacific Plate is moving northwest with respect to the North American Plate at approximately 46 millimeters per year (the rate your fingernails grow). The strike-slip earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault are a result of this plate motion. The plates are moving horizontally past one another, so California is not going to fall into the ocean. However, Los Angeles and San Francisco will one day be adjacent to one another!