California will almost certainly be hit by a strong earthquake in the next thirty years according to a new scientific report. The US Geological Survey warns that a mega-quake of magnitude 8 or higher is now more likely than previously thought (7.0 per cent rather than 4.7 per cent previously) due to the possibility of multiple faults moving at once. The report, released Tuesday, forecasts that the bigger risk though is from a 6.7 magnitude quake similar to the Northridge disaster of 1994. The USGS says there is a 95 per cent chance of such a quake being in Northern California compared to a 93 per cent chance in the south. There are no guarantees with earthquakes though and while these are forecasts the reality may be different. "California is earthquake country, and residents should live every day like it could be the day of a big one," USGS geophysicist and lead author Ned Field told NBC.
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