Remote sections along California’s massive San Andreas Fault, where large earthquakes regularly occur, may be primed to shake again any day now, according to a new study.

The area around Parkfield in Monterey County typically experiences an earthquake with a magnitude of 6 or greater every 22 years on average. Its last tremor was in 2004 — but that one came 14 years late.

Scientists studying the fault for signs of when the next quake will be have believed they’ve detected unique seismic activity that points to a strong earthquake possibly as soon as this year, according to a study published March 22 in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science.

“We are waiting,” study lead author Luca Malagnini, the director of research at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy, told Live Science.

The San Andreas Fault line, which stretches some 800 miles across California, marks the boundary between the Pacific and North tectonic plates, according to the outlet.

Parkfield sits right at a transitional segment of the fault line that causes “very simple geometry and behavior” Malagnini wrote in the study.

South of Parkfield, the fault is locked, and the two plates do not rub against each other. North of Parkfield, the plates rub against each other at a constant rate of 1.4 inches per year, according to Live Science.

Malagnini said that while the earthquakes typically produced there are over a magnitude of 6, the quakes do not pose a threat to humans or property due to the remoteness of the location.

The study found there are signs Parkfield is entering the final phase of its dormant period, Malagnini said

While the exact date of the next earthquake cannot be predicted, Malagnini believes it will happen this year — although researchers “cannot find signs about the Parkfield asperity having reached its critical state yet,” according to the study.

By analyzing data from the weeks before the 2004 earthquake, scientists noted similar patterns among seismic waves in the area as they moved through the Earth’s crust. A similar process is happening now, scientists said, although the next quake’s epicenter could be in a different location.

Across the nation, meanwhile, the New York City metro region was rocked by a 4.8 earthquake on Friday, its largest tremblor since 1884.