Editing Los Angeles (section)

===Geology===
[[File:Mt. Lukens overlooking La Crescenta-Montrose.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mount Lukens]], in the [[San Gabriel Mountains]], is the highest point in LA.]]
Los Angeles is subject to earthquakes because of its location on the [[Ring of Fire|Pacific Ring of Fire]]. The geologic instability has produced numerous [[Fault (geology)|faults]], which cause approximately 10,000 earthquakes annually in Southern California, though most of them are too small to be felt.<ref name="quakes">{{cite web|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/facts.php|title=Earthquake Facts|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|access-date=October 3, 2011|archive-date=October 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010223337/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/facts.php|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Strike-slip fault|strike-slip]] [[San Andreas Fault]] system, which sits at the boundary between the [[Pacific Plate]] and the [[North American Plate]], passes through the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The segment of the fault passing through Southern California experiences a major earthquake roughly every 110 to 140 years, and [[seismologist]]s have warned about the next "big one", as the last major earthquake was the [[1857 Fort Tejon earthquake]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zielinski |first1=Sarah |title=What Will Really Happen When San Andreas Unleashes the Big One? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-will-really-happen-california-when-san-andreas-unleashes-big-one-180955432/ |website=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |access-date=September 6, 2020 |date=May 28, 2015 |archive-date=September 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925205236/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-will-really-happen-california-when-san-andreas-unleashes-big-one-180955432/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Los Angeles basin and metropolitan area are also at risk from [[blind thrust earthquake]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Shaw|first1=John H.|last2=Shearer|first2=Peter M.|date=March 5, 1999|title=An Elusive Blind-Thrust Fault Beneath Metropolitan Los Angeles|journal=Science|volume=283|issue=5407|pages=1516–1518|bibcode=1999Sci...283.1516S|doi=10.1126/science.283.5407.1516|pmid=10066170|s2cid=21556124}}</ref> Major earthquakes that have hit the Los Angeles area include the [[1933 Long Beach earthquake|1933 Long Beach]], [[1971 San Fernando earthquake|1971 San Fernando]], [[1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake|1987 Whittier Narrows]], and the [[1994 Northridge earthquake|1994 Northridge]] events. All but a few are of low intensity and are not felt. The USGS has released the [[California earthquake forecast|UCERF California earthquake forecast]], which models earthquake occurrence in California. Parts of the city are also vulnerable to [[tsunami]]s; harbor areas were damaged by waves from [[1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake|Aleutian Islands earthquake]] in 1946, [[1960 Valdivia earthquake|Valdivia earthquake]] in 1960, [[1964 Alaska earthquake|Alaska earthquake]] in 1964, [[2010 Chile earthquake|Chile earthquake]] in 2010 and [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|Japan earthquake]] in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geology.com/records/largest-earthquake/|title=World's Largest Recorded Earthquake|publisher=Geology.com|access-date=January 12, 2015|archive-date=January 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119014143/http://geology.com/records/largest-earthquake/|url-status=live}}</ref>