It lurks ominously beneath California’s many natural wonders, a reminder that nothing in this landscape is truly permanent.

It’s been described as “the mother of all earthquake faults,” the source of both our geological birth and, perhaps, our ultimate undoing.

But the most unnerving thing about the San Andreas fault these days may be its silence. It’s a mystery scientists are still trying to unlock.

The San Andreas is central to any discussion of California. It’s the massive 800-mile spine of the state, trundling up the Coachella Valley to the San Gabriel Mountains, and pushing along the edge of Silicon Valley to beyond the Golden Gate.

There is no simple answer for why California’s longest fault, responsible for some of America’s most powerful earthquakes, has produced so few in the last century.

But it is clear that the quiet period is only increasing strain on the San Andreas, as well as on the state’s second-longest fault, the San Jacinto.

A new study underscores the concern. Researchers estimated that key sections of the fault in Southern California are at their highest level of tectonic strain in the last 1,000 years.

The San Andreas, in other words, is locked, loaded and inevitable.

Read More Here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/science/earth-science/the-san-andreas-fault-has-gone-ominously-silent-scientists-fear-when-it-finally-snaps/ar-AA287psu