Forecast: Big Earthquake Likely To Hit California In 2037

Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - A powerful catastrophic earthquake capable of causing widespread destruction is almost certain to hit California within the next 30 years, scientists said Monday.

in the agency's first state wide temblor forecast, the U.S. Geological Survey calculates there is a 99.7 percent chance a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger will strike in 2037.

Southern California has a 6 percent greater chance of a quake than the northern part of the state, the report said.

In developing the forecast, scientists used a new system that combines information from seismology, earthquake geology, and precise measurements from the earth's surface, according to The Associated Press.

Ned Field, a geophysicist with the USGS in Pasadena and lead author of the report, is sure that the earthquake is going to happen.

"It's near certainty that we are going to have a potentially damaging earthquake somewhere in the region in the next 30 years," he told Agence France-Press. Field is also a member of the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities.

Scientists also found that two of California's largest cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco, were more than 63 percent likely to face a 6.7 quake. The January 17, 1994, Northridge quake in Los Angeles killed 72 people, injured more than 10,000 and caused billions of dollars in damage.

The study was conducted by the USGS, the Southern California Earthquake Center and California Geological Survey.