2012 and Planet X News Blog

If you are thinking about building a Planet X retreat in the Lake Tahoe area, you might want to think again. A fault runs through the area and crosses the lake at its southern end (near all the casinos) that was measured at about 31 miles long and capable of letting loose with a magnitude 7.3 whopper, and scientists say that it’s overdue for its “Big One!”

New Picture of Lake Tahoe’s Earthquake Potential

Lake Tahoe in the Snow

by Staff Writers
San Diego CA (SPX) May 01, 2009

For more than a decade, scientists as Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have been unraveling the history of fault ruptures below the cobalt blue waters of Lake Tahoe one earthquake at a time.

Two new studies by the Scripps research team offer a more comprehensive analysis of earthquake activity in the Lake Tahoe region, which suggest a magnitude-7 earthquake occurs every 2,000 to 3,000 years in the basin, and the largest fault in the basin, West Tahoe, appears to have last ruptured between 4,100 and 4,500 years ago.

The West Tahoe Fault runs along the west shore of the lake and comes onshore at Baldwin Beach, then passes through the southern end of Fallen Leaf Lake, where it descends into Christmas Valley near Echo Summit.

The best place in the US to consult before planning your Planet X retreat is the US Geological Survey website, at http://www.usgs.gov. Consult their earthquake data and maps before making your final decision.

Catch you on the Backside!

Janice Manning

2012 and Planet X Bulletin