A new study has identified 350 new geological fault lines in the United States, putting approximately 75% of the country’s territory at risk of destructive earthquakes within the next 100 years. The total number of known hazardous faults in the USA has increased to 1,000. Most of them are located in already recognized seismic hazard zones in California, Alaska, and Hawaii. Residents of Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston, as well as the states of Nevada, Wyoming, South Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, Oregon, Utah, Arkansas, Texas, Illinois, and Tennessee are also at risk.
The US Geological Survey predicts that the average economic losses due to building damage in the event of earthquakes in these areas will amount to $14.7 billion per year. The likelihood of major earthquakes in the next 100 years on the California coast is 95%, while in New York, it is up to 25%.
“Earthquakes are difficult to predict, but we have made significant progress with this new model. The update includes more faults, better-characterized land surfaces, and computer advancements in modeling that provide the most detailed understanding of earthquake risks we face,” says Mark Petersen, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey and lead author of the new study.
“Our forensic analysis, comparing current and previous National Seismic Hazard Models, shows a substantial [60%] increase in hazard rates in low-seismicity areas such as New York due to the prioritization of earthquake input catalogs,” the study says.
The team also found that earthquakes with magnitudes exceeding 5 have occurred in 37 states over the past 200 years, indicating a long history of seismic activity across the country.
