California is due for a massive earthquake induced by natural and human made factors agreed?

Probably. According to the gap hypothesis yes, we are bound for major earthquakes in the future.

Darn.

I think it's very risky to use the term "due" when talking about earthquakes. So far they have defied all attempts at prediction. We have a good idea about the long term rate of plate motion away from faults, but behavior at the fault is more complicated because stick-slip nature of motion. People talk about seismic "gaps" that need to be made up, but sometimes what seem like overly long intervals can pass between large earthquakes, while other times they may be close in time. In most cases statistical models work better than dynamic.

As for California, most places along major faults should expect to occasionally experience Mw 7-8 earthquakes on intervals of 100's to 1000's of years. However, I think human activities have next-to-nothing to do with when and where they occur.

I am preparing. I have water, lots of water, in my den as well as several weeks of emergency food. I believe the big one probably will hit one day and I don't want to be unprepared. It is caused by the Pacific Plate moving relative to the North American Plate on a strike slip fault that has been building up power over the last 300 or so years. Humans have no part of that. We are like microbes on an elephant's butt relative to the tectonic plates.

Oil and tectonic plate movement have nothing to do with each other.

Californians have prepared for the coming earthquake.

We have no evidence to say that large earthquakes are caused by man (even very large men). Small earthquakes have been caused by geothermal drilling, but nothing to say people have caused "big one" quakes.

Based on historical experience, a very large earthquake is likely somewhere in California (or elsewhere on the U.S. or Canadian Pacific Coast) within 50 years.

bruce if you live in California probably the best thing for you to do is to build an under ground house near mammoth mountain & move right in.

then all your worries about man made earthquakes will soon be over. a subsurface co2 level of 95% will quickly put all your problems behind you & let you sleep very soundly.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri98-4217/

just thought you might need something else to worry about.

California is due for a massive earthquake induced by shifting plates.

I hope not. I live in Northern California and a few months earlier, there was news saying there might be a "superstorm" that would rain non-stop for 40 days.

I'm barely prepared.