Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times | May 7, 2015

(TNS) — People living in California and the West Coast still face the highest earthquake risk. But a new study says they are not alone.

That report found that close to half of all Americans — nearly 150 million people — are threatened by shaking from earthquakes strong enough to cause damage.

That figure is a sharp jump from the figure in 1994, when the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated that just 75 million Americans were at risk from earthquakes.

One reason for the sharp increase in exposure to quake damage is population increases in areas prone to earthquakes, especially California, said William Leith, a co-author and USGS senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards.

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