--- title: San Andreas California Earthquake: Tsunami Could Hit State Coast description: new research shows there's two other fault lines off the state's coast that could rock Los Angeles and cause a small-scale tsunami. canonical: https://time.com/3903054/california-tsunami-risk/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-01T13:47:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:11.567Z article:section: Science og:title: San Andreas California Earthquake: Tsunami Could Hit State Coast og:description: new research shows there's two other fault lines off the state's coast that could rock Los Angeles and cause a small-scale tsunami. og:url: https://time.com/3903054/california-tsunami-risk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68fea210fabdb529/6988525ee53aba274d4ddf19/san-andreas-3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: san-andreas-3 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: San Andreas California Earthquake: Tsunami Could Hit State Coast twitter:description: new research shows there's two other fault lines off the state's coast that could rock Los Angeles and cause a small-scale tsunami. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68fea210fabdb529/6988525ee53aba274d4ddf19/san-andreas-3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Yes, California Could Be at Risk of a Tsunami ## Video: San Andreas - Official Trailer 2 HD [Watch (HLS stream): San Andreas - Official Trailer 2 HD](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Oqnq1dWd.m3u8) (2:22)  _Published 2015-03-10. Watch the exciting new trailer for Brad Peyton's action thriller San Andreas._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 1, 2015 1:47 PM UTC  Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc Warner Bros. Entertainment IncCourtesy of Warner Bros. Picture  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 1, 2015 1:47 PM UTC The San Andreas Fault strikes fear in the hearts of Californians. It could shift at any time and cause a devastating earthquake. Now, new research shows there’s two other fault lines off the state’s coast that could rock Los Angeles and potentially cause a small-scale tsunami. The study, to be published in the _Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface,_ shows that two underwater faults are building up stress much like the San Andreas fault and could rupture in the same way as their famous inland counterpart and generate a 8.0 magnitude earthquake. And if one does, Los Angeles and San Diego may need to prepare for a tsunami — though a relatively small one. **Read More:** [3 Places Where the Next Big Earthquake Could Hit](http://time.com/3838716/earthquake-risk-nepal/) “We’re dealing with continental collision,” said study author Mark Legg in a press release. “That’s fundamental. That’s why we have this mess of a complicated logjam.” Legg, who runs an earthquake consulting firm, has spent decades mapping off-shore faults. In a no-doubt-purely-coincidental turn of events, the study was published just as Dwayne Johnson disaster movie _San Andreas_ has shaken up the box office with a fictional earthquake and tsunami that leave Los Angeles and San Francisco in ruins. [Seismologists say](http://time.com/3900204/san-andreas-seismology-dwayne-johnson/) that an actual earthquake would never look anything like the one in the movie. And, while this new research suggests the possibility of tsunami, the wave wouldn’t look anything like the city-destroying one featured in the movie. “We aren’t going to have a tsunami,” said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucile Jones. “Or if we did it wouldn’t behave like the one in the movie.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3903054/california-tsunami-risk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3903054/california-tsunami-risk/"},"headline":"Yes, California Could Be at Risk of a Tsunami","datePublished":"2015-06-01T13:47:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:11.567Z","description":"According to a study released suspiciously close to the release of blockbuster San Andreas","url":"https://time.com/3903054/california-tsunami-risk/","keywords":["Natural Disasters"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68fea210fabdb529/6988525ee53aba274d4ddf19/san-andreas-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68fea210fabdb529/6988525ee53aba274d4ddf19/san-andreas-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"san-andreas-3","caption":"Warner Bros. 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