Earthquake predictor who warned of deadly Colombia tremor issues dire California forecast

A geophysicist who predicted the Colombia earthquake has warned California is “in the crosshairs” of a huge tremor.

Stefan Burns warned the Golden State could be next after a 7.4 magnitude hit El Cairo Monday and two struck Venezuela on June 24.

He warned the region was “super overdue” but said Southern California is particularly at risk due to being across multiple fault lines.

The Colombian earthquake has killed more than 200 people and left thousands missing more than a month after the Venezuela tremors took more than 6,000 lives.

Burns, who warned the Venezuela ones would spark another large quake, said on a YouTube livestream: “California is super overdue. What areas in California are now at greater risk?

“In general, just all of California but really more Southern California would be at greater risk because of this.”

Burns warned the Colombia earthquake could affect West Coast by “loading” geological faults thousands of miles away.

He believes California could be in danger for up to a year as a result of the devastating South American quake.

He continued: “It’s that six-[month]-to-one-year time frame that we’re worried about, and if we get kind of past that then maybe we can start to breathe a bit of a sigh of relief.

“But because we’ve been seeing so much activity in Northern California, it’s hard to rule out Northern California. So really, all of California is problematic right now.”

California has been awaiting “the Big One” for years — but has thankfully avoided the likely massively destructive tremor.

Burns’ distressing prediction comes shortly after a chilling new study reignited concerns over the San Andreas Fault.

Caltech seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, who developed a magnitude 7.8 San Andreas rupture scenario, warned the disaster would be far more than a brief jolt — her models show it would unleash widespread, devastating impacts across the state.

Simulations suggest the quake would unleash nearly two minutes of violent, nonstop shaking, causing deadly gridlock and crippling critical infrastructure, including water systems that cross the fault line.

The fault is the state’s longest, “therefore capable of the biggest earthquakes,” Dr. Jones told KTLA.

Burns has some science-driven prophetic chops for earthquakes.

He predicted the Colombia earthquake over two months before the disaster. He said on another YouTube livestream that the two Venezuela earthquakes on June 24, both over 7.0 magnitude, would send out a wave of seismic energy that could trigger another quake.

“Anytime I see two earthquakes pop off close together within the same year. They’re linked together,” he said.

Burns cited three powerful Midwest quakes in the early 19th century that affected Caracas, Venezuela just weeks later.

Then, nine months later, California was struck by two earthquakes believed to be stronger than a magnitude 7.0.

Californians are hoping Burns’ prediction of a devastating Golden State earthquake, which he says is not certain, will fall short.

“When you see these sort of trends you have to pay attention,” Burns said. “I would say this is not an exact science [but] there’s an art and a science to this.”

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