Quaking Earth

California in for a devastating quake within 30 years

SAN FRANCISCO -- A strong and potentially deadly earthquake is virtually certain to strike on one of California's major seismic faults with a magnitude of at least 6.7 within the next 30 years, scientists said Monday in releasing the first official forecast of statewide earthquake probabilities.

By their calculations the probability of such a strong and damaging quake hitting somewhere the Golden state is now more than 99 percent.

A much more damaging quake of magnitude of 7.5 or greater is at least 46 percent likely to hit on one of California's restless web of active fault systems within the same three decades, but probably in the southern part of the state, the team of federal and state earthquake scientists warned.