MAJOR QUAKE to strike California within days? Hypothesis leads to big prediction

Carbon monoxide bloom has some worried the state is about to experience a major quake.

News outlets have erupted with alarm that a massive earthquake is about to strike the U.S. West coast. The concern follows the sudden detection of a carbon monoxide bloom over the San Andreas fault.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Californians, especially those in Southern California, have been rattled by a series of quakes which shook up the entire southern portion of the state in February. A 4.8 quake in the San Joaquin Valley made national headlines.

Since then, satellites have detected a massive explosion of carbon monoxide over California, giving rise to concerns that a major earthquake is about to strike within days. One hypothesis of earthquake prediction suggests that as the earth heaves under stress it releases gasses from deep within. According to the hypothesis, carbon monoxide blooms erupt about one week prior to the main earthquake. This means the quake could strike sometime between March 2-4.

While skeptics have dismissed the results as a feature of high pressure and warm weather over the state, others have pointed out that the carbon monoxide bloom developed within just a few hours and reached concentrations hundreds of times in excess of normal, more than what could be produced by several days worth of driving.

Certainly, the bloom is an anomaly.

The bloom developed on February 25-26, and developed within just three hours. It has since moved south, eerily following the San Andreas fault. The San Andreas fault runs north to south, towards Mexico, and is the most potentially powerful and devastating fault in California.

Earthquakes are common in the region, but a major quake hasn't struck since 1994. Central California hasn't experienced a major quake since 1952, and the Bay Area has been quiet since the "World Series Quake" in 1989. 

Recently, state officials have approved the deployment of an early warning system for earthquakes. The system relies on sophisticated sensors in the ground to detect the first, fast moving seismic waves of an earthquake. The data from these sensors is transmitted to a central facility which then sends a warning signal across the region most likely to be affected by the quake. These alarms which will be installed in high rises, offices, schools, and trains, can give people just a few seconds warning that shaking is about to start. However, those few seconds are enough to stop trains while people can move away from hazards and into cover. The system is being deployed on schedule, but is not yet ready to give warnings to the general public.

Other intrepid entrepreneurs are developing smartphone apps to alert people to a pending quake.

Still, we cannot predict quakes before they actually start. And carbon monoxide blooms, have not yet been conclusively linked to earthquakes.

This means that despite the unexpected bloom over California, there is no certain likelihood that a quake will actually occur. However, if one does strike within the next few days, it could lend credibility to the carbon monoxide hypothesis.

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