Overdue For Bump And Grind?

California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go
Back to Annandale
Tried to warn you
About Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can't seem to get to you
Through the U.S. Mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go
I'm gonna take her down to Mexico
She said oh no
Guadalajara won't do

Well I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school

(Steely Dan, My Old School,
Countdown to Ecstasy, 1973)

Those of you living in California haven't got enough to worry about what with the fires and the mudslides, so you can count of science to step in to provide more! A new study says the Southern portion of the San Andreas fault is overdue for a strong earthquake.

The new study, which analyzed 20 years of data and is considered one of the most detailed analyses yet, found that stress has been building up since then, and that the fault could rupture at any moment.

"The southern section of the fault is fully loaded for the next big event," said geophysicist Yuri Fialko of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.

Predicting exactly when that might happen, however, is beyond scientists' ability.

The analysis was published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

The last major earthquake on the Southern section was in 1690 with an estimated 7.7 on the Richter Scale.

Blue Crab Boulevard, always passing along helpful information.