Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, is quick to make clear this is not an earthquake prediction. Such small earthquakes raise the risk that the San Andreas fault could unleash a magnitude 7 or greater earthquake. The latest in operational earthquake forecasting will be discussed at the annual meeting of the Southern California Earthquake Center, which is being held in Palm Springs this week. A striking example of how earthquake forecasting can be useful is if moderate earthquake activity was detected at the northern end of the southern San Andreas fault in Monterey County. An hour later, at sunrise, a second moderate earthquake hit, a 5.6.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 11, 2017 12:00 UTC