World fault line analysts recently receive a much needed update to new (previously unknown) fault lines in highly populated areas of the globe.

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The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) has discovered at least a dozen faults beneath the Salton Sea, many of which appear capable of producing earthquakes measuring at least 6.0 in magnitude. (Full news release). Such a quake would be felt in Orange County. But the greater concern is that a quake like that would trigger an event on the southern San Andreas fault, which ends at the Salton Sea, a comparatively shallow lake that covers more than 370 square miles. The San Andreas is capable of producing the s0-called “Big One.” There’s also the possibility that one of these newly discovered faults could set off part of the San Jacinto system in the Inland Empire, which is much closer to Orange County.

DANGER ZONE? Scripps says, “A seismic map of the Salton Sea area reveals the grid covered by the CHIRP instrument (green lines), faults (black lines) and bomb target sites (gray boxes). The red dots represent earthquakes that have taken place in the area since 1983.”