OPTIMUM SEISMIC, INC.
September 2026 NEWSLETTER
New Study Maps Earthquake Shaking Across Los Angeles
Ali Sahabi, GEC
Principal,
Optimum Seismic, Inc.
A new Caltech study is helping researchers better understand how earthquake shaking could affect different areas of Los Angeles. Researchers placed 273 seismic sensors throughout the region and found that soft sediments beneath downtown Los Angeles can reach depths of up to 10 kilometers. These deeper sediments can amplify and prolong earthquake shaking, which helps explain why some areas may experience more damage than others during the same earthquake.
The study is an important reminder that Southern California remains vulnerable to major earthquakes. We cannot predict when the next one will occur, but we can prepare for it. Seismic retrofitting is one of the most important steps we can take to strengthen vulnerable buildings, reduce damage, and most importantly, help protect lives. Preparing our buildings before the next earthquake can make a significant difference when the shaking begins.
Map: 10 California faults that could produce major earthquakes
California is marked by thousands of faults, places where pieces of the Earth’s crust move against each other. And earthquakes are inevitable, occurring when rocks along these boundaries suddenly slip.
The release of energy in waves produces shaking at the surface, often miles away from faults themselves. Some faults, like the well-known San Andreas or Hayward, continue to move today; others last budged millions of years ago. The state lies along the geologically active boundary between the North American and Pacific plates.
Read more
AI Scanned 2 Million Earthquake Records and Found Six Hidden Zones Near Earth’s Core
Rex Edison
Nearly 35 years of seismic data. Over two million waveforms from roughly 5,000 magnitude-6-plus earthquakes. Manual analysis had picked through this archive for decades and kept missing something. A deep-learning system developed by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences didn’t. It identified approximately 174,929 faint seismic signals — more than ten times every previous catalogue combined — and mapped six zones at Earth’s core-mantle boundary that nobody had documented before.
Read more
The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake
MARCH 10th – To American history buffs, this is the date in 1681 when William Penn was given the colony of Pennsylvania by King Charles II of England – but to Californians, and especially to those who live in the greater Long Beach area of southern California, March 10th is chiseled in history as the date of the Great 1933 Long Beach Earthquake.
Read More >>
7 largest quakes ever recorded, from Chile’s 9.5 to the 2025 Kamchatka quake
Earth is constantly moving beneath our feet, but most of that movement is too small for us to notice. Every once in a while, however, a fault releases an almost unimaginable amount of energy, sending seismic waves racing across continents and sometimes generating tsunamis that cross entire oceans.
Read More >>
Making Our Cities Safer
Why did Santa Fe Management choose Optimum Seismic?
Jessie Childers shares her experience working with our team on the seismic retrofit of their properties. After starting with one building, Santa Fe Management went on to trust Optimum Seismic with 10 more.
We’re proud to build long-term relationships with property owners and managers throughout California.
