--- 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1908 og:image:height: 1073 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Yes, California Could Be at Risk of a Tsunami > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=9d0d7921-e27d-43e7-9e6c-a607c0402c82&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## 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 Inc Courtesy 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.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ]. [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ]. I'm gonna get you out. [ NOISE ] Run. Come on. Come here. [ NOISE ] Are you hurt? Are you hurt? People need to know that the shaking is not over. We'll get hit again and it's going to be a bigger monster. [ MUSIC ] Oh my god. > The Earth will literally crack open. You will feel it on the east coast. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] I love you, dad. [ MUSIC ] I can not emphasize this enough, you need to get out, and I mean now. If you can't, God be with you. 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