Experts suggest the chance of a major earthquake hitting the San Francisco Bay Area within the next 30 years is growing. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the probability of an earthquake measuring 6.7 or greater in the region has increased by about 2 percentage points since the last assessment over a decade ago. As reported by ABC7 San Francisco, the current chance of a major earthquake in the Bay Area over the next 30 years is now 74 percent. The San Andreas Fault has seen the biggest jump in its estimated earthquake probability, increasing by 3.6 percentage points from the previous study. This fault, which stretches nearly 800 miles through California, is known for producing some of the state's largest earthquakes, according to USGS seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones. However, the fault with the highest estimated chance of causing a major earthquake in the Bay Area over the next 30 years is the nearly 120-mile-long Hayward-Rogers Creek fault system, which has a 34.3 percent probability of producing such an event, based on updated calculations. Dr. Jones stressed that the exact timing of earthquakes cannot be predicted. The Hayward-Rogers Creek fault system runs beneath densely populated areas in the East Bay, stretching from Fremont and Hayward through Oakland and north toward Santa Rosa. A major rupture along this fault could have serious consequences for the region. In the worst-case scenario, the Hayward and Rogers Creek faults might rupture simultaneously, potentially releasing more than five times the energy of the 1989 magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake. That event killed 63 people and caused about $6 billion in damage, as noted in a 2017 USGS report. Residents continue to feel smaller earthquakes that remind them of the region's seismic activity. In August, a small but relatively strong earthquake struck beneath the Oakland Zoo, startling people across the East Bay. Caitlin Fitzpatrick, who felt the shaking, described the sudden experience. "Just everything started shaking, and I was like, 'Wait.' I jumped up and ran out, and I was like, 'Was that an earthquake there?'" Fitzpatrick told ABC7 San Francisco. "And then my nephew – he's two and a half – he was like, 'That was a big one," she added.