According to research led by Earth scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, tectonic stress along Southern California's San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems has reached the highest levels seen in the past 1,000 years, raising alarm bells in regards to possible large earthquakes, including multi-fault events.
The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth on June 3, outlined that the system is highly stressed over 160 years since the last major rupture.
Indeed, Southern California is a well-known hot spot for earthquakes. Residents of the West Coast state live in one of the most seismically active regions in the world, an area distinguished by the notorious San Andreas Fault.
But what exactly is the San Andreas Fault, and why is it associated with such high-risk earthquake activity? Click through the following gallery for a brief overview of this infamous geological feature.