Canie...while the quake you speak of may be somewhat more common that what I say below, it would also be much less damaging. the real dangerous fault is the Compton and its offshore continuation that I have been mapping....the offshore SW limb of Palos Verdes anticlinorium is continuous for 50 km so the faults underneath are likely a continuous system. Combining the offshore fault areas with the area of the Compton ramp doubles the area and makes the Shaw and Suppe (1996) M 7.0 a M7.3 instead. This would be a thrust or oblique thrust earthquake where Long Beach and much of Los Angeles would be above the fault. Ground motions in thrust earthquakes are higher (generally) than in strike-slip earthquakes. Given the deep sedimentary Los Angeles basin, this would not be at all a good scenario..

I need to write up and publish this paper because the student who was supposed to do this is not...but I have papers backed up....and they take me a long time.
Chris