7 Biggest Fault Lines in US

Any one of the 7 biggest fault lines in US can be a source of the next Big One, a possible earthquake that can fundamentally affect not just the lives of the people living in the vicinity, but across the planet.

Many of our Biggest Cities are on a Major Earthquake Fault Line. A majority of earthquakes happen at or near these lines. Had our forefathers known about them when they were founding our cities–the world’s atlas would probably look very differently. Had the Spanish explorers and missionaries known what lies beneath the Earth’s surface, the odds are San Francisco wouldn’t exist today and this goes for many towns and cities all around the world. Spending your life living on a fault line and wondering when the next Big One is going to hit can’t be a very pleasant experience, as many people living on or near the Biggest Fault Lines in the World know.

Science has come a long way in understanding earthquakes and how they originate, even managing to predict some of them with a significant degree of certainty. Still, they continue to take their toll on humanity across the globe. The number of casualties is directly proportional to the technology level of the community affected by it. The 2010 Chile Earthquake caused less than 600 deaths, despite being one of the strongest earthquakes on the record, with a magnitude of 8.8. In the same year, the much weaker Haiti Earthquake caused between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths. The staggering difference in victims count is due to several reasons, but many experts believe it is due to poor building standards in Haiti. Many of the buildings that collapsed and buried their inhabitants were makeshift structures similar to the ones found in shanty towns.

Both earthquakes were caused by tectonic fault lines. The Chilean one was due to Atacama Trench or Peru–Chile Trench, one of the largest fault lines in the world, measuring some 3,000 miles, running parallel with the Pacific coast of South America. The Atacama caused several earthquakes recently, like 2014 Iquique earthquake, which left 5 people dead, and 2015 Illapel earthquake, which caused 13 fatalities in Chile and one in Argentina.

As for the biggest fault lines in the US, most of them have been fairly quiet in recent years, as much as a tectonic fault line can be quiet. The United States Geological Society has a handy map you can check for all recent earthquakes in the world and the amount of them happening daily is frightening. Fortunately, most of them are either small or in uninhabited areas, so they don’t even make the news. But the ever-present danger of their bigger brothers coming for a visit still lurks beneath us. Now, let’s see our list of biggest fault lines in US.

7. Hayward Fault Zone

Length: 74 miles

San Andrea isn’t the only geological danger in Northern California. Hayward Fault Zone runs parallel to its more famous cousin, smack through the middle of San Francisco Bay, with cities like Richmond, Berkeley, and Oakland above it, with San Francisco just a few miles away. Despite being the shortest fault line on our list, it is considered one of the most dangerous ones in the US.

6. New Madrid Fault Line

Length: 150 miles

We are continuing our list of biggest fault lines in US with New Madrid Fault Line that covers five states: Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. According to some scientists, it has a potential to produce a massive earthquake, on par with those expected in Cascadia and San Andreas zones. To make matters worse, it would appear that it is long overdue for a shake or two.

5. Ramapo Fault

Length: 185 miles

Next in line on our list of biggest fault lines in US is Ramapo Fault that came to prominence in the 1970s, when it was discovered that it runs beneath the Indian Point nuclear power plant. It is easy to see why it is considered very dangerous when you add the fact that most of Ramapo Fault lie under New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the US.

4. Cascadia Megathrust

Length: 620 miles

Cascadia subduction zone or Cascadia megathrust is the fault line on the boundary between North American plate and several smaller plates between it and the Pacific plate. There is strong evidence that Cascadia is somehow connected with San Andreas fault and that its activity predicts San Andrea earthquakes.

3. San Andreas Fault System

Length: 800 miles

Although not the biggest fault line, San Andreas Fault systems, next ono ur list of biggest fault lines in US is certainly the most famous one in the United States. It is also the location most scientists agree where the next Big One will cause the most damage, threating to obliterate Northern California.

2. Great Lakes Tectonic Zone

Length: 1,200 miles

Great Lakes tectonic zone (GLTZ) stretches 1,400 miles Minnesota to Ontario, Canada. At least six earthquakes in Minnesota in the last 120 years have been caused by Great Lakes tectonic zone.

1. Alaska-Aleutian megathrust

Length: 2,200 miles

The biggest fault line in the US is the Aleutian Trench, another thing the United States share with Russia, besides Donald Trump. Starting at Russia’s Far East coast, near Kamchatka peninsula, it roughly follows Aleutian Islands chain and ends deep in Alaska Gulf. It is responsible for three out of ten largest earthquakes in history, including the second-largest one, a 9.2 monster that hit Prince William Sound in 1964.