Major 6.7+ Earthquake Expected In San Francisco Area ‘Any Day Now’ On Hayward Fault, Says USGS Scientist

A recent 4.0 earthquake nearby Fremont, California, as reported by the USGS, was felt by some Twitter users in the area — while others barely felt the earthquake at all.

However, a new report from CBS claims that residents will definitely feel the major earthquake on the way via the same Hayward Fault that produced the 4.0 earthquake on Tuesday morning. Those that live in the “city by the Bay,” as Steve Perry of Journey sang about his beloved Bay Area city, should prepare for a major earthquake, said Tom Brocher.

“The population is now 100 times bigger in the East Bay, so we have many more people that will be impacted. We keep a close eye on the Hayward Fault because it does sit in the heart of the Bay Area and when we do get a big earthquake on it, it’s going to have a big impact on the entire Bay Area. The past five major earthquakes on the fault have been about 140 years apart, and now we’re 147 years from that 1868 earthquake, so we definitely feel that could happen any time.”

Brocher is a United States Geological Survey research geophysicist, so ears are perking up online about his warnings. As reported by the Inquisitr, sales of earthquake kits had already increased in the wake of the disaster flick San Andreas, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. In light of this new warning about a major earthquake on the way for San Francisco, sales of those types of kits will likely continue to rise.

The USGS has a list of “significant earthquakes” from the past 30 days on their site, with earthquake facts in the middle of the screen, and magnitude 2.5+ earthquakes from the past day on the right-hand side. It’s Brocher’s warning about a major earthquake possibly happening “any day now” that has articles like that CBS one being shared on Facebook more than 17,000 times as of this writing.

The predictions of a larger earthquake coming in the wake of the 4.0 magnitude Hayward Fault quake could mean an earthquake like the last biggest 6.8-magnitude earthquake that happened on the fault in 1868, as reported by the USGS, could be pretty destructive. In 2008, the odds of a major 6.7-magnitude or bigger earthquake happening on the Hayward-Rodgers Creek Fault was only pegged at 31 percent — and that was during the ensuing 30 years. Brocher contradicted those claims with a major earthquake possibly happening “any day now.” However, it wasn’t the 4.0 earthquake that caused Brocher’s prediction of a major earthquake taking place on the same fault.

[Photo Credit: USGS]