Los Angeles is seeing the most seismic activity in decades, but why?

It's not your imagination: The ground under Southern California has been particularly unstable lately, with the region seeing more moderate-sized earthquakes this year than it has in decades.

Exactly what fueled the tremor sequence isn't entirely clear, and officials caution that past seismic activity doesn't necessarily mean stronger tremors are imminent. But a series of modest tremors has many wondering what is happening.

“Earthquakes pop up all over the state, and they're kind of like popcorn — sometimes they cluster for reasons we don't understand,” said Susan Hough, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

Where do earthquakes occur?

According to a tally by seismologist Lucy Jones, a research associate at the California Institute of Technology, Southern California has felt 15 independent seismic sequences this year, with at least one quake of magnitude 4 or higher. This is the highest annual total in the past 65 years, surpassing 13 years in 1988.

The most recent one — with a magnitude of 4.0 — struck before dawn Sunday near Ontario International Airport. In Ontario, one of the most populous cities in San Bernardino County, five earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher occurred during the past month. The Malibu area was another hotspot. There was a 4.6 magnitude earthquake on February 9, which was strong enough to knock things off the table; and a magnitude of 4.7 on September 12 — startling enough that the city's mayor and his wife dove under their kitchen table. The East Side of Los Angeles was hit by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake centered in El Sereno on August 12, and a 3.4 magnitude earthquake on June 2. A 5.2-magnitude earthquake, the strongest to hit the region in three years, shook Southern California on August 6, with a magnitude of 5.2, the strongest to hit the region in three years. The epicenter of the earthquake is northwest of Enab. Another earthquake, a magnitude 4.9, occurred on July 29, about 13 miles northeast of Barstow. A little help reading the tea leaves

The series of seismic disturbances rattled the nerves of some Southern Californians — and served as an unpleasant reminder of the omnipresent threat posed by the Big One.

But experts warn that the recent quakes do not provide any additional clarity about the likely timing of such a disaster.

“Seismologists have spent decades trying to read tea leaves to look for patterns. The seismic grid was installed in Southern California 100 years ago because scientists thought small earthquakes would show patterns before big ones occurred. And that didn’t work,” Hogue said.

One thing is clear, she said: “No one has found statistically meaningful patterns before large earthquakes occur.”

However, experts say the recent wave of earthquakes should reinforce the threat posed by the state's active seismic landscape, and serve as a reminder of how many Californians live in a danger zone.

For example, the East Side Los Angeles earthquakes in the summer were focused on faults associated with the Puente Hills thrust fault system, which lies beneath downtown Los Angeles and swaths of southeastern Los Angeles County, the San Gabriel Valley and northern Orange County.

A moment to reflect on past seismic devastation

This all comes as the state prepares for its annual Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill on October 17. People can register to participate in the training, which begins at 10:17 a.m., at Shakout.org.

This year's training coincides with the 35th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake.

The 1989 earthquake had a magnitude of 6.9 and its epicenter was in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It shook Northern California, killing 63 people.

This earthquake changed Northern California forever – causing extensive damage in downtown Santa Cruz, parts of San Francisco, and causing portions of Interstate 880 in Oakland and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to collapse.

This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the last devastating earthquake in Los Angeles: the 6.7 magnitude Northridge earthquake.

At least 57 people were killed in the 1994 earthquake, which caused a portion of the Santa Monica Freeway and the intersection between Interstate 5 and Interstate 14 to collapse.

Many buildings collapsed or were severely damaged, from wooden apartments with flimsy ground floors—known as soft-storey buildings—to concrete medical offices and a department store, to the steel-framed building that houses the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The USGS is asking Californians who remember feeling the 1989 or 1994 earthquakes to fill out a quick questionnaire to recall what they felt at their location. Both earthquakes occurred before the era of broadband Internet service, and scientists hope that more responses will help improve their understanding of the events.

“Every piece of data has value,” Hogue said.

The USGS's online “Did You Feel It” crowdsourced maps of the Loma Prieta and Northridge earthquakes will be updated with new responses.

“There are many different ways we can look at the data,” Hogue said. “We can look at how the ground shook. We can look at the variation of shaking across different regions.

This is also a way to be part of history.

“Human memories are fleeting,” Hough said. “The people who experienced this earthquake — we're not going to be around forever. So it's an opportunity to capture people's experiences in a way that contributes to science.”

Preparations make a difference

ShakeOut training is a good time to prepare for an earthquake, such as checking your emergency kit and downloading the free Earthquake Early Warning smartphone app, available at myshake.berkeley.edu. Powered by the USGS ShakeAlert system, the app can enable many users to get seconds of warning of incoming shaking before it arrives at their location.

The Google-powered Android operating system also has a built-in earthquake early warning app.

MyShake will send a test alert on October 17 at 10:17 AM

“It's a way to know whether or not you have MyShake installed and it's set up correctly,” said Robert De Groot, ShakeAlert operations team lead.

People can also get early warnings of earthquakes without downloading an app through an Amber Alert text message called a Wireless Emergency Alert. But officials are widely urging people to download the MyShake app as a good way to get these warnings.

To get the fastest, most relevant warnings wherever you are, you can adjust your app settings to allow MyShake to “always” access your location. Alerts are calculated to warn you based on your location when an earthquake strikes.

Apple also suggests changing a setting on your iPhone — turning on “Local Awareness” — to make it easier to issue more accurate and timely early warnings about earthquakes. To do this, go to Settings, then Notifications, scroll down to select Emergency Alerts, then tap the Local Awareness switch to turn it green.

Are you ready when the big one hits? Prepare for the next big earthquake by signing up for the Unshaken newsletter, which breaks down emergency preparedness into small steps over six weeks. Learn more about earthquake kits, the apps you need, Lucy Jones' top tips and more at latimes.com/Unshaken.

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