A new map released by the California Department of Conservation shows seismic hazard zones across the state, with new information about hazard zones in the Bay Area.
It even shows liquefaction zones, or areas where the ground may act more like a liquid than a solid in the event of an earthquake.
The map comes on the heels of a Los Angeles Times article in which U.S. Geological experts noted that California is in an earthquake drought. That might sound like a good thing, but experts say it's actually alarming, because it's been so long since a sizable quake that residents are now in the mindset that this is the new normal. And it's anything but.
The areas shown in green on the map represent the liquefaction zones, meaning the soil has become saturated, and will become unstable once pressure is applied.
"The program initially focused on the greater Los Angeles area and San Francisco and is now working on other highly populated, seismically active areas,” Don Drysdale of the California Department of Conservation, which oversees the program, told the San Jose Mercury News.
The Times article also noted that the Bay Area has been particularly quiet when it comes to earthquakes within the last century.
The maps are not meant to alarm current or future residents of those areas, but to help them prepare and reinforce their homes before the next earthquake hits, officials said.
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NBC Bay Area contributed to this report.
