{"id":377031,"date":"2026-06-27T08:09:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/377031\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T08:09:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:09:29","slug":"fault-that-produced-venezuelan-earthquakes-is-similar-to-san-andreas-fault-seismologist-dr-lucy-jones-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/377031\/","title":{"rendered":"Fault that produced Venezuelan earthquakes is similar to San Andreas fault, seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones says"},"content":{"rendered":"

The recent earthquakes in Venezuela<\/a>, where the death toll continues to rise, offer a stark warning about the potential risks along Southern California’s San Andreas Fault, according to seismologists.<\/p>\n

The type of seismic activity seen in Venezuela closely resembles what could occur along the San Andreas, particularly in its southern section, according to experts. The fault runs through the Cajon Pass, and a rupture there could disrupt critical infrastructure across the region, including freeways, rail lines, water systems and power networks.<\/p>\n

“What happened in Venezuela was movement on their plate boundary strike-slip fault… that’s what the San Andreas is,” seismologist Lucy Jones said.<\/p>\n

Jones noted that while much of the visible damage from the Venezuelan quakes has been reported in Caracas, the full extent of destruction in more distant communities is not yet known.<\/p>\n

Those areas lie in the direction the rupture traveled, a factor that could have parallels in Southern California during a major quake.<\/p>\n

RELATED: San Andreas Fault hits highest stress level in 1,000 years, study finds<\/a><\/p>\n

If the southern portion of the San Andreas Fault were to rupture, some of the strongest shaking could occur in parts of the Inland Empire. However, Jones warned that regions farther away, including the Los Angeles Basin, could still face significant impacts, in part because of liquefaction.<\/p>\n

“What that means is our high rises are going to be whipped around, and our single-family homes are just going to sort of ride it out like a little boat on an ocean swell.<\/p>\n

“So, we are going to get a lot of damage because of that,” said Jones. “It isn’t just near the fault.”<\/p>\n

Despite stricter building codes in Southern California, vulnerabilities remain. Many older structures have not been retrofitted, and even newer buildings are not guaranteed to escape damage during a major seismic event.<\/p>\n

“The code doesn’t ask you to not [have buildings] fall down. It says to try not to fall down; to have a less than 10% chance of falling down, which implies we allow 10% of our to-code buildings to be falling down and still consider it a success, which is, to me, sort of crazy,” Jones said.<\/p>\n

Beyond structural damage, Jones emphasized that earthquakes often disrupt essential systems that sustain daily life, including utilities and emergency services.<\/p>\n

RELATED: How to help victims of deadly Venezuela earthquakes<\/a><\/p>\n

“We think of it as the downed buildings because that makes great pictures right now. But a lot of what the damage actually is, is underlying systems that keep urban life going,” she said.<\/p>\n

She added that the broader risks seen in Venezuela – including fires, electrical outages and water disruptions – are all possible in Southern California as well.<\/p>\n

“Bottom line is that, yes, it’s very, very similar. Yes, we have better buildings. No, we haven’t solved the problem. And we are not immune from what happened to them, period,” Jones said.<\/p>\n

Scientists also caution that the direction of a potential San Andreas rupture is unpredictable. It could move east to west, west to east, or begin near the Cajon Pass and spread in both directions, altering which regions experience the strongest shaking.<\/p>\n

The uncertainty underscores the region’s ongoing vulnerability and highlights the importance of preparedness for a potentially devastating earthquake.<\/p>\n

Are you prepared for “the big one”?<\/p>\n

ABC7 has compiled a list of items that are important to have in your earthquake kit<\/a> so that you’re prepared for “the big one.”<\/p>\n

ABC7 has compiled a list of items that are important to have in your earthquake kit so that you’re prepared for “the big one.”<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The recent earthquakes in Venezuela, where the death toll continues to rise, offer a stark warning about the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[152627,7,9,8],"class_list":["post-377031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-152627","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}