California At High Risk For Major Earthquake Following Colombia Tremor

A scientist who correctly predicted Monday's deadly earthquake in Colombia now warns that a catastrophic disaster is coming soon for the United States. Geophysicist Stefan Burns says California sits firmly in the crosshairs for a massive and devastating quake along its most vulnerable faults, including the infamous San Andreas. He made this claim during a livestream on YouTube, stating that California is super overdue for such an event.

Southern California would be at greater risk because of the recent activity, according to Burns. The scientist explained that energy released during the magnitude 7.4 earthquake in San Jose Del Palmar does not stay local. Those seismic waves and stress changes travel through the Earth and can load geological faults thousands of miles away with more pressure that will eventually cause more earthquakes.

Burns specifically singled out the US, noting that major earthquake hotspots such as the West Coast and the New Madrid Seismic Zone in the Midwest may be activated by the deadly quake that has killed at least 132 people. He warned that the next six to twelve months will be a critical time, especially in California, as many mega earthquakes throughout recent history have occurred within months of each other.

It is that six month to one year time frame we are worried about, Burns said. If we get past that then maybe we can start to breathe a bit of a sigh of relief. But because we've been seeing so much activity in Northern California, it is hard to rule out Northern California. So really all of California is problematic right now.

Over 130 people have died by a major 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia on August 10. Researchers found that 159.2 million people live in areas exposed to very strong shaking under the latest US Geological Survey hazard model. Burns first predicted that a major earthquake could strike Colombia on June 24, nearly two months before Monday's disaster.

He said during a YouTube livestream that the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes in Venezuela that same day would be sending out waves of seismic energy that could cause another fault to rupture several weeks or months later. Anytime I see two earthquakes pop off close together within the same year, he noted, it signals increased danger for regions far away from the initial tremors.

They're linked together," Burns stated immediately following the tremors that shook Venezuela. This potential chain reaction moving between South America and North America has occurred before, according to Burns. Between December 1811 and February 1812, a trio of powerful quakes over magnitude 7.0 caused damage throughout the Midwest, from Cincinnati to St Louis. The shaking was felt in states as far away as Connecticut and Louisiana.

These events were followed weeks later by a major disaster in Caracas, Venezuela on March 26, 1812. That event is believed to have been a magnitude 7.7 quake. Nine months later, two more major earthquakes struck California - both believed to be stronger than magnitude 7.0. The first erupted near the San Andreas Fault on December 8, 1812, while the second took place on December 21 in Santa Barbara.

"When you see these sort of trends you have to pay attention," Burns said regarding forecasting. He added that it adds something like a "plus one modifier" to probability. I would say you know this is not an exact science. There's an art and a science to this. Applying that same historical pattern to the recent quakes in South America, Burns believed the US would be in the greatest danger for a magnitude 7.0 or stronger earthquake throughout the rest of 2026 and early 2027.

Scientist Stefan Burns predicted Colombia would be struck by Monday's earthquake in late June. The US Geological Survey has already warned that 159.2 million people live in areas exposed to 'very strong' shaking under their latest hazard model. This is up from 111.8 million in its previous version. California remained one of the country's most notorious earthquake hotspots, but the threat also spread to New Madrid and far beyond.

The danger increased around the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which stretches about 150 miles along the Mississippi River Valley. It covers parts of northeastern Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, western Tennessee, western Kentucky and southern Illinois. Heavily traveled bridges also make New York, Atlanta and St Louis unexpectedly vulnerable to severe seismic activity, according to the USGS model. Researchers warned that a damaged crossing could cut neighborhoods off from hospitals. Emergency crews would be delayed and traffic paralyzed long after the shaking stops.

The new figures do not mean earthquakes have suddenly become more frequent. They show that improved scientific models have revealed far more people, homes and vital infrastructure may be exposed than previously understood. A church tower collapsed during the August 10 earthquake in Colombia. Burns previously told the Daily Mail the Ring of Fire, a 25,000-mile arc encircling the Pacific Ocean which includes the US West Coast and South America, would soon need to balance itself by having more earthquakes on the US side of the ring.

In recent years, multiple megaquakes have been seen on the Asia side of the Pacific Plate. This included a magnitude 8.8 disaster in Kamchatka, Russia on July 29, 2025. "We've had tons of activity in the Western Pacific," Burns predicted in July. He noted he sees it moving more towards the East. I see that really hitting South America and also North America pretty strongly. Harrowing footage taken from across Colombia on Monday showed the facades of buildings crumbling. People huddled in the streets, unable to stand up straight as the ground beneath them rocked violently.

In one shocking video, a church's spire was seen falling off and crumbling into rubble in front of a terrified crowd of onlookers. A 2025 blog post on the Geological Society of America's official site warned that a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone could cause more than $43 billion in damage. Previous studies have estimated the potential death toll at more than 80,000. The most recent predictions in California from USGS have looked at a magnitude 7.8 earthquake along the San Andreas Fault originating right in Los Angeles. This is a city of 3.8 million people.

This hypothetical 'Big One' would cause roughly 1,800 deaths and 50,000 injuries. It could also lead to $200 billion in damages according to the Great California ShakeOut.