An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 shook the north of Californiaaccording to reports from the Geological Survey of USA.
The quake occurred about 50 kilometers south of Eureka, at a depth of 27 kilometers, without causing casualties or damagereported the Italian news agency ANSA.
This Monday is the second earthquake in California in less than two weeks.
The previous one, of magnitude 6.4, caused two deaths and injured 11 people.
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What is the “Big One”
Earthquakes occur regularly in California, mostly triggered by movements along the San Andreas Fault, which runs through much of the state, the most populous in the United States.
According to geologists, there is a 99% chance that an earthquake capable of causing widespread destruction hit California in the next three decades. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake could kill 1,800 people, injure 50,000 and damage more than 300,000 buildings.
A 6.7-magnitude earthquake in Los Angeles killed at least 60 and caused about $10 billion in damage in 1994, while a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in San Francisco in 1989 killed 67 people. .
Los Angeles is located in the seismic risk region called Ring of Firewhich has produced devastating earthquakes in the Pacific area, such as the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan in March of last year.
California certainly has a chance of a devastating Big One: Major earthquakes have rattled the Ring of Fire region in recent years, from Japan, Indonesia and New Zealand to Chile and Mexico, but the US West Coast has spared them all.