The Big One will destroy twice as many homes as previously thought, say scientists

The thought of a huge earthquake striking is a terrifying thought for most – unless maybe you are a survivalist with a bunker, a ton of batteries, and a dozen Breakfast Buckets, then it might as well be just another day. For everyone else, there was some scary news revealed yesterday, as scientists now believe that The Big One could destroy twice as many homes as they originally thought.

The findings come from CoreLogic and uses data from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast – which concludes that a huge shaker could happen simultaneously in both Southern and Northern California, reports the Press Enterprise:

The CoreLogic analysis shows that a magnitude 8.3 earthquake along the San Andreas – which was previously thought possible only on the northern segment of the fault line – could result in a full rupture. That would increase the number of homes damaged by 126 percent, from 1.6 million to 3.5 million. And the cost to rebuild the homes would rise nearly 80 percent, from $161 billion to $289 billion.

A similar scenario that expands earthquake risk from the southern San Andreas to a full rupture increases the number of homes damaged by 54 percent, from 2.3 million to 3.5 million. The cost to rebuild would jump 111 percent, from $137 billion to $289 billion.

For a magnitude 8.0 or 8.2 earthquake scenario, the number of damaged homes would jump from 1.9 million to 2.5 million, CoreLogic’s analysis shows, and the cost for rebuilding would increase from $130 billion to $183 billion.

While that sounds beyond terrifying, the scientists behind the study do believe that the chances of an 8.3 quake running along the entire San Andreas fault are pretty small.  But even so, they do stress that Californians should be ready with an earthquake kit, just in case – which is not a terrible idea at all.

You may also want to prepare by watching San Andreas – which should be easy, since it plays on HBO about 6 times a day.