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ByAliciaChang TheAssociatedPress LOS ANGELES Scientists are virtually certain that California will be rocked by a strong earthquake in the next 30 years. Now they say the risk of a mega-quake is more likely than previously thought. The chance of a magni- tude-8 quake striking the state in the next three de- cades jumped to 7 percent from 4.7 percent, mainly be- cause scientists took into account the possibility that several faults can shake at once, releasing seismic en- ergy that results in greater destruction. While the risk of a mega- quake is higher than past estimates, it's more likely — greater than 99 percent chance — that California will be rattled by a magni- tude-6.7 jolt similar in size to the 1994 Northridge di- saster. The chance of a Northridge-size quake was slightly higher in Northern California than Southern California — 95 percent ver- sus 93 percent, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Geological Survey. "California is earth- quake country, and resi- dents should live every day like it could be the day of a big one," USGS geophys- icist and lead author Ned Field said. The latest seismic cal- culations largely mirror previous findings issued by the USGS in 2008. Back then, scientists also determined that Califor- nia faced an almost cer- tain risk of experiencing a Northridge-size quake. The new report included newly discovered fault zones and the possibil- ity that a quake can jump from fault to fault. Because of this knowledge, the odds of a catastrophic quake — magnitude 8 or larger — in the next 30 years increased. There is a 93 percent chance of a magnitude 7 or larger occurring over the same period and a 48 per- cent chance of a magnitude 7.5 — similar to previous es- timates. Thousands of quakes every year hit California, sandwiched between two of Earth's major tectonic plates, the Pacific and North American plates. Most are too small to be felt. Of the more than 300 faults that crisscross the state, the southern seg- ment of the San Andreas Fault — which runs from central California to the Salton Sea near the U.S.- Mexico border — remains the greatest threat because it hasn't ruptured in more than three centuries. The report found there is a 19 percent chance in the next 30 years that a North- ridge-size quake will un- zip the southern section compared to a 6.4 percent chance for the northern sec- tion, partly because it last broke in 1906. The southern San An- dreas is "ready to have an earthquake because it's re- ally locked and loaded," Field said. The report is a forecast, but it is not a prediction. Experts still cannot pre- dict exactly where or when a quake will hit anywhere in the world. In recent years, the USGS and several universities have been testing an early warning system designed to detect the first waves of a jolt and send out an alert before the slower-moving damaging waves. Propo- nents have said a few sec- onds of notice can allow trains to slow down, utili- ties to shut off gas lines and people to duck for cover. The public alert system — still in pilot phrase — needs more funding before it can be rolled out statewide. NEWLY DISCOVERED FAULT ZONES Report:Chanceofmega-quakeincreases TheStateHighway14overpasscollapsedontoInterstate5a eramagnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake in 1994. By Ellen Knickmeyer The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Califor- nia's top regulators on Tuesday acknowledged lax oversight by the state had allowed oil-and-gas in- dustry contamination of protected water aquifers and other threats to pub- lic safety, and they pledged to intensify protection of water sources and public health. When it comes to a bal- ance between supporting the oil and gas industry in California — the coun- try's No. 3 oil-producing state — and protecting public resources and pub- lic safety, "I would sug- gest that ... there has not been the proper balance between these two man- dates" for state oil and gas regulators, John Laird, the state secretary of natural resources, told state sen- ators in a scathing senate hearing. "And this is our chance to get it right." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, mean- while, set strict new dead- lines for California to start dealing with more than 2,000 oil-and-gas industry injection wells that state regulators had allowed to inject into underground water reserves that are federally protected as cur- rent or potential sources of water for drinking and ir- rigation. In an EPA letter made public Tuesday, fed- eral regulators also joined some state lawmakers in challenging state plans to continue issuing new per- mits for some oilfield injec- tion in certain protected water aquifers. Members of state Senate committees on environ- mental quality and natu- ral resources convened af- ter critical state and fed- eral reviews, and after news reports by The As- sociated Press and others, addressing what state re- cords show as decades of loose enforcement and re- cord-keeping gaffes that allowed some oilfield op- erations to threaten un- derground drinking-wa- ter reserves. An Associ- ated Press review of state records found more than one-third of the state per- mits granted in apparent violation of the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act were awarded since 2011. The state's oil and gas division had become "a flawed agency in many, many ways in terms of protecting the groundwa- ter as it should be. The bal- ance really has gone out of whack," Democratic San Francisco Bay-area Sen. Lois Wolk said. Sen. Hannah-Beth Jack- son, D-Santa Barbara, agreed. "None of this re- ally came to light un- til there were exposes in the media," Jackson told state water and oil-and- gas regulators. California had a "serious imbalance between the role of the oil and gas industry and the role of protecting the public. This is an endemic problem." AQUIFERS Lawmakers focus on oil industry, drinking water "PG&E"referstoPacificGasandElectricCompany,asubsidiaryofPG&ECorporation.©2015PacificGasandElectricCompany. Allrightsreserved. pge.com/DigSafely OneFREEcallto811getsyourunderground utilitiesmarkedsoyoucandigsafely. STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! 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