Answer to Question #252107 in Other for gundy

Question

 An article from the New Yorker states that the strongest earthquake that can be caused by the San Andreas fault has a magnitude of 8.2 on the Richter scale. It also states that this is only 6% as strong as the 2011 Japan earthquake, with a magnitude of 9.0. Verify this information

Answer 1

The biggest historic earthquake on the San Andreas fault, the magnitude 7.9 on 1906 earthquake, slipped down to about a depth of 10 miles over a stretch of the fault about 300 miles long.

Computer models show that the San Andreas fault is capable of producing earthquakes up to about magnitude 8.3.

Earthquake prediction is not yet possible. Magnetic and electric signals, strain meters and even animal behavior have been studied without success. Yet scientists are working on many aspects of improving our understanding of earthquakes and use this understanding to create long-term forecasts.

The fictional magnitude 9.6 that devastates San Francisco would be 90 times more intense overall than the largest earthquake possible (“only” a magnitude 8.3) on the San Andreas fault!

Hence the given information is not valid.