By: Dan McSwain
This morning the LA Times published maps showing what may be among the worst-case scenarios of shaking you could feel at a particular address in California. Working with experts from the USGS, the LA Times data journalists selected 14 significant earthquake scenarios on faults across California out of hundreds of earthquake scenarios produced by the U.S. Geological Survey and released as open data.
More than 30,000 miles of faults cut across California — it’s a fascinating geography to showcase the complexity and context of the data set generated by USGS. These scenarios carry consequences for virtually all of the states’ residents. The LA Times interactive map lets you choose views from popular California sites or enter your own address.
See the map and search your own address. Here’s Mapbox’s SF HQ:
The USGS evaluates the likelihood of earthquakes on active faults across the country. Each earthquake scenario estimates shaking intensities for affected populations by assuming a certain magnitude, location, fault-rupture geometry, and then factoring in other variables like geology and local site soil conditions. All the raw data for this article is from the 2014 National Seismic Hazard fault database, published every six years by the USGS. This database contains nearly 800 scenarios, of which more than 300 take place within California’s borders or along the coast.
Dan McSwain - VP Brand Marketing - Mapbox | LinkedIn
What would a powerful earthquake feel like where you live? was originally published in Points of interest on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.