Hi Chris. How true. The Hector Mine quake was just such a quake. It occurred on a fault that was known to be there, but not named. The name for the fault is now the Lavic Lake fault.

Previous evaluations of the Lavic Lake fault by the California Division of Mines and Geology have shown that the fault had not produced a large earthquake within the last 10,000 years. As a result, the fault was not considered "active" according to the regulatory criterion set forth in the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act of 1972.

I have never agreed with the term “inactive fault” as they can be like a match. You can strike the match and then blow it out after it has lit. It won’t light again on it own, but if you hold another lighted match to it it will burn. Sooner or later that so-called inactive fault is going to light up by the actions of the other faults surrounding it.

Who knows what lies hidden under the LA Basin. As David Schwartz is fond of saying. “Were always humbled by a quake we didn’t see coming occurring on a fault we didn’t know was there.” I have to agree with him 102%. Take Care…Don in creepy town