More than 143 million Americans live in an earthquake zone and face at least some risk of a damaging earthquake by 2065, according to a U.S. Geological Survey analysis.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by official USGS press release and multiple independent news sources (CNN, CBS, Weather Channel) citing the same 2015 USGS/Earthquake Spectra study led by Jaiswal, Petersen, and Leith. The 143 million figure and 50-year risk window are consistently corroborated.
Sources
- If You Think You're Safe From Earthquakes, You May Be ... (nationalgeographic.com)
- https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/nearly-half-americans-exposed-potentially-damaging-earthquakes (usgs.gov)
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nearly-half-of-americans-at-risk-of-an-earthquake/ (cbsnews.com)
- https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/17/us/americans-earthquake-risk-usgs/index.html (cnn.com)
- https://weather.com/safety/earthquake/news/damaging-earthquakes-usgs-report (weather.com)