View of the San Andreas Fault on the Carrizo Plain in central California, 35°07'N, 119°39'W

The San Andreas Fault is a geological fault that runs a length of roughly 800 miles (1300 kilometres) through western and southern California in the United States. The fault, a right-lateral strike-slip fault, marks a transform (or sliding) boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. Image File history File links Sanandreasfault_srtm. ... Image File history File links Sanandreasfault_srtm. ... The Carrizo Plain is a large enclosed plain, approximately 50 miles (80 km) long and up to 15 miles (24 km) across, in eastern San Luis Obispo County, California. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Geologic faults, fault lines or simply faults are planar rock fractures, which show evidence of relative movement. ... A mile is a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, United States customary units and Norwegian/Swedish mil. ... A kilometer (Commonwealth spelling: kilometre), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1,000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ... A compass rose with west highlighted This article refers to the cardinal direction; for other uses see West (disambiguation). ... A compass rose with South highlighted South is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... In plate tectonics, a transform boundary (also known as transform fault boundary, transform plate boundary, transform plate margin, slip boundary or conservative plate boundary) is said to occur when tectonic plates slide and grind against each other along a transform fault. ...  The Pacific plate, shown in pale yellow The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean. ...  The North American plate, shown in brown The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Cherskiy Range in East Siberia. ...

The fault was first identified in Northern California by UC Berkeley geology professor Andrew Lawson in 1895 and named by him after a small lake which lies in a linear valley formed by the fault just south of San Francisco, the Laguna de San Andreas. Following the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, it was Lawson who also discovered that the San Andreas Fault stretched well southward into Southern California. Sather tower (the Campanile) looking out over the San Francisco Bay and Mount Tamalpais. ... Andrew Steve Bradley Lawson was born on January 21st 1991. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... San Andreas Lake (from Spanish, Laguna de San Andreas) is the name of an upland lake on the San Francisco Peninsula south of the city of San Francisco, California. ... San Francisco Earthquake of 1906: Ruins in vicinity of Post and Grant Avenue. ...

Southern, central, and northern segments

The San Andreas Fault can be divided into three segments.

Map of the San Andreas Fault, showing relative motion.

The southern segment (known as the Mojave segment) begins near the Salton Sea at the northern terminus of the East Pacific Rise and runs northward before it begins a slow bend to the west when it meets the San Bernardino Mountains. Here, it runs along the southern base of the San Bernardino Mountains, crosses through the Cajon Pass and continues to run northwest along the northern base of the San Gabriel Mountains. These mountains are a result of movement along the San Andreas Fault and are commonly called the Transverse Range. This segment of the fault is the most commonly analyzed of any fault in the world by geologists. This is due to a cutout of the fault in Palmdale (the second largest city directly sitting on the fault) where the Antelope Valley Freeway passes through it, and the deep layers of "shifted" crust can clearly be seen. Image File history File links Sanandreas. ... Image File history File links Sanandreas. ... For the indigenous American tribe, see Mohave. ... The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake, located in the Colorado Desert in Southern California, north of the Imperial Valley. ... The East Pacific Rise is a long north-south welt of seafloor spreading under the eastern Pacific Ocean from near Antarctica in the south northward to its termination at the northern end of the Gulf of California in the Salton Sea basin in southern Pennsylvania California. ... {{Otheruses4|north the direction}} [[Image:CompassRose16_N.png|thumb|250px|right|[[Compass rose]] with north highlighted and at top]] {{wiktionary}} <nowiki>North is o<nowiki>ne of the [[4 (numbe</nowiki> Block quote r)|four]] cardinal directions, specifically the direction that, in Western culture, is treated as the primary direction: north... San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are short transverse mountain range northeast of Los Angeles in southern California in the United States. ... Cajon Pass (elevation 4190 ft. ... San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains are located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, USA. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Greater Los Angeles Area and the Mojave Desert. ... The Transverse ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. ... A geologist is a contributor to the science of geology. ... Motto: Aerospace Capital of America Location of Palmdale in Los Angeles County, California Coordinates: Country United States of America State California County Los Angeles  - Mayor James C. Ledford Jr. ... Look up city, City in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. ... Earth cutaway from core to exosphere. ...

After crossing through Frazier Park, the fault begins to bend northwards. This area is referred to as the "Big Bend" and is thought to be where the fault locks up in Southern California as the plates try to move past each other. This section of the fault has a recurrence interval of roughly 140-160 years. Northwest of Frazier Park, the fault runs through the Carrizo Plain, a long, treeless plain within which much of the fault is plainly visible. The Elkhorn Scarp defines the fault trace along much of its length within the plain. Frazier Park is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. ... For the urban complex straddling the United States-Mexico border, see Bajalta California. ... The Carrizo Plain is a large enclosed plain, approximately 50 miles (80 km) long and up to 15 miles (24 km) across, in eastern San Luis Obispo County, California. ... In geography, a plain is a large area of land with relatively low relief. ...

The central segment of the San Andreas fault runs in a northwestern direction from Parkfield to Hollister. While the southern section of the fault and the parts through Parkfield experience earthquakes, the rest of the central section of the fault exhibits a phenomenon called aseismic creep. This term describes the fault being able to move without causing earthquakes. Parkfield is a village in Monterey County, California. ... A house sitting atop the Calaveras Fault Hollister is the county seat of San Benito County, California. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In geology, aseismic creep is measurable surface displacement along a fault in the absence of notable earthquakes. ...

The northern segment of the fault runs from Hollister, through the Santa Cruz Mountains, epicenter of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, then on up the San Francisco Peninsula, where it was first identified by Professor Lawson in 1895, then offshore at Pacifica at Mussel Rock. This is the approximate location of the epicenter of the 1906 earthquake. The fault returns onshore at Bolinas Lagoon just north of Stinson Beach in Marin County. It returns underwater through the linear trough of Tomales Bay which separates the Point Reyes Peninsula from the mainland, returning onshore at Fort Ross. From there it continues overland, forming in part a linear valley through which the Gualala River flows. It goes back offshore at Point Arena. After that, it runs underwater along the coast until it nears Cape Mendocino, where it begins to bend to the west, terminating at a triple junction with the Mendocino Fracture Zone and the Cascadia subduction zone. To the north lies the Gorda Plate which is being subducted under the margin of the North American plate. The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. ... The Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on October 17, 1989, in the greater San Francisco Bay Area in California at 5:04 p. ... USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Pacifica is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay. ... Mussel Rock is a physical feature on the coast of San Mateo County, California, offshore from the city of Daly City. ... Bolinas Lagoon is a tidal estuary, approximately 3 square miles (8 square km) in area, in Marin County in California in the United States. ... Stinson Beach Stinson Beach is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States. ... Marin County is a county located in Californias San Francisco Bay Area, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. ... Tomales Bay Tomales Bay is a long narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean in Marin County in northern California in the United States. ... Point Reyes Point Reyes is a prominent cape on the Pacific coast of northern California in the United States. ... Fort Ross is a former Russian fur trade outpost in what is now Sonoma County, California (United States). ... The Gualala River is a river on the northern coast of California. ... Point Arena and the Point Arena lighthouse, looking southward from Manchester State Beach. ... Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, California, USA, is the westernmost point on the coast of California. ... A triple junction is the point where three tectonic plates diverge. ... Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, California, USA, is the westernmost point on the coast of California. ... Structure of the Cascadia subduction zone Area of the Cascadia subduction zone The Cascadia subduction zone is a very long sloping fault that stretches from northern Vancouver Island to northern California. ... The Gorda Plate is a small oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the coast of northern California. ...  The North American plate, shown in brown The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Cherskiy Range in East Siberia. ...

Plate movement

Historical movement of the San Andreas Fault

All land west of the fault on the Pacific Plate is moving slowly to the northwest while all land east of the fault is moving to the southwest (relatively southeast as measured at the fault) under the influence of plate tectonics. The rate of slippage averages approximately 33-37 mm/year across California. ^[1] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (800x1130, 137 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): San Andreas Fault Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (800x1130, 137 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): San Andreas Fault Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used...  The Pacific plate, shown in pale yellow The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean. ... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ...

Projected motion indicates that the Gulf of California will expand northward at the same time that the landmass west of the fault, including the Baja California peninsula and the California coast (including Los Angeles) slides past San Francisco, then continuing northwestward as an island mass toward the Aleutian Trench, over a period of perhaps twenty million years. The Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez or Sea of Cortés; locally known in the Spanish language as Mar de Cortés or, much less frequently, Golfo de California) is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland. ... Baja California (literally lower California in Spanish) is the northernmost state of Mexico. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... The Aleutian Trench is an oceanic trench in the Earths crust. ...

Scientific research

Research at Parkfield

Further south in central California is the small town of Parkfield, California, which lies along the San Andreas Fault. Seismologists discovered that this section of the fault consistently produces magnitude 6.0 earthquakes about every 22 years. Following earthquakes in 1857, 1881, 1901, 1922, 1934, and 1966, scientists predicted an earthquake to hit Parkfield in 1993. This quake eventually struck in 2004 (see Parkfield earthquake). Because of this frequent activity and prediction, Parkfield has become one of the most popular spots in the world to try to capture and record large earthquakes. Parkfield is a village in Monterey County, California. ... Global earthquake epicenters, 1963&#8211;1998. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Look up forecast in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Parkfield is a village in Monterey County, California. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Activity snapshot 35 hours after Sept 28, 2004 large earthquake. ...

In 2004, work began just north of Parkfield on the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD). The goal of SAFOD is to drill a hole nearly 3 kilometers into the Earth's crust and into the San Andreas Fault. An array of sensors will be installed to capture and record earthquakes that happen near this area.^[2] shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The San Andreas Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) is a National Science Foundation project located near the town of Parkfield, California that will drill down nearly 1. ...

The University of California study on "the next big one"

A study completed by Yuri Fialko^[3] has demonstrated that the San Andreas fault has been stressed to a level sufficient for the next "big one," as it is commonly called, that is, an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or greater. The study also concluded that the risk of a large earthquake may be increasing faster than researchers had previously believed. Fialko also emphasized in his study that, while the San Andreas Fault has experienced massive earthquakes in 1857 at its central section and in 1906 at its northern segment (the great San Francisco earthquake), the southern section of the fault has not seen a similar rupture in at least 300 years. The Richter magnitude scale (or more correctly local magnitude ML scale) assigns a single number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released by an earthquake. ...

If such an earthquake were to occur, Fialko's study stated, it would result in substantial damage to Palm Springs and a number of other cities in San Bernardino, Riverside and Imperial counties in California, and Mexicali municipality in Mexico. Such an event would be felt throughout much of Southern California, including densely populated areas of metropolitan Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Tijuana, Baja California. Palm Springs is a famed Riverside County, California, desert resort city, approximately 110 miles east of Los Angeles. ... San Bernardino County is the largest county in the contiguous United States by area, containing more land than each of nine states. ... Riverside County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of California, stretching from Orange County to the Colorado River, which is the border with Arizona. ... Imperial County is a county located in the Imperial Valley, in the far southeast of the U.S. state of California, and borders both Arizona and Mexico. ... Mexicali is the capital of the state of Baja California, Mexico as well as the capital of the municipality of Mexicali. ... For the urban complex straddling the United States-Mexico border, see Bajalta California. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Americas Finest City Location Location of San Diego within San Diego County Coordinates , Government County San Diego Mayor City Attorney         City Council District One District Two District Three District Four District Five District Six District Seven District Eight Jerry Sanders (R) Michael Aguirre Scott Peters Kevin... Tijuana (Spanish [tixwana], English usually [ËŒtiːəˈwÉ‘nÉ™]), is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California and the seat of the municipality of Tijuana. ... Baja California (literally lower California in Spanish) is the northernmost state of Mexico. ...

"All this data suggests that the fault is ready for the next big earthquake but exactly when the triggering will happen and when the earthquake will occur we cannot tell," Fialko said. "It could be tomorrow or it could be 10 years or more from now," he concluded.

Notable earthquakes

The San Andreas Fault has had some notable earthquakes in historic times: Global earthquake epicenters, 1963&#8211;1998. ...

• 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake — 350 kilometers were ruptured in central and southern California. Though it is known as the Fort Tejon earthquake, the epicenter is thought to have been located far to the north, just south of Parkfield. Only two deaths were reported. The magnitude was about 8.0
• 1906 San Francisco Earthquake — 430 kilometers were ruptured in Northern California. The epicenter was near San Francisco. About 3000 people died in the earthquake and subsequent fires. This time the magnitude was estimated to be 7.8.
• 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake — 40 kilometers were ruptured (although the rupture did not reach the surface) near Santa Cruz, California, causing 63 deaths and moderate damage in certain vulnerable locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Magnitude this time was about 7.1. The earthquake also postponed game 3 of the 1989 World Series at Candlestick Park.
• 2004 Parkfield earthquake — on 28th September 2004 at quarter past 10 in the morning, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck California on the San Andreas Fault. This earthquake was originally expected in 1993 based on the latest earthquake prediction theories of the time. Eleven years passed before this prediction finally came to pass. Despite the extra time between events the magnitude of the earthquake was no larger than originally expected.

See also: List of earthquakes

The Fort Tejon earthquake occurred on January 9, 1857, with an estimated magnitude of 8. ... The Richter magnitude scale (or more correctly local magnitude ML scale) assigns a single number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released by an earthquake. ... San Francisco Earthquake of 1906: Ruins in vicinity of Post and Grant Avenue. ... The Loma Prieta earthquake was a major earthquake affecting the greater San Francisco Bay Area of California. ... Dates October 14, 1989–October 28, 1989 MVP Dave Stewart (Oakland) Television network ABC Announcers Al Michaels, Tim McCarver, Jim Palmer Umpires Rich Garcia (AL), Paul Runge (NL), Al Clark (AL), Dutch Rennert (NL), Vic Voltaggio (AL), Eric Gregg (NL) The 1989 World Series was played between the Oakland Athletics... Monster Park (colloquially, The Stick or Candlestick, after its original name of Candlestick Park) is an outdoor sports and entertainment stadium located in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. ... Activity snapshot 35 hours after Sept 28, 2004 large earthquake. ... The following is a list of major earthquakes. ...

The San Andreas Fault in pop culture

• The television version of the theatrically-released film Earthquake features a prologue about the San Andreas, implying that the fault is responsible for the disaster of the title. There is no mention of the San Andreas fault in the theatrical version of the film.
• The plot of the original Superman movie had Lex Luthor purchasing massive amounts of land east of the fault and then detonating a nuclear missile at the fault line, causing all land west of the fault to plunge into the sea and turning Luthor's previously purchased barren land into beachfront property.
• The James Bond movie A View to a Kill saw a plot by villian Max Zorin to set off explosives under the San Andreas and Hayward faults in order to decimate Silicon Valley.
• The video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, is set in a fictional state named after this fault. Also, what is said to be the fault can be seen running through San Fierro, a fictionalized version of San Francisco.
• There is a popular misconception, played up in Curt Gentry's part - pop apocalypse, part description of California in the 1960s, Last Days of the Late, Great State of California (1968) (and, hints Gentry's book, by Edgar Cayce before then), that, eventually, a portion of California will break away from the continental U.S. at the fault, or drop below sea level. This is not true; it would be more correct to say the land west of the fault will move northwest, because the fault is a transform fault (the two land masses are sliding by each other, not moving apart), at least in the short term, and the lighter crustal rocks "float" on the denser underlying basalts. Some misconstruction may come from the term continental shelf for shallow offshore regions, which do not at all resemble a common cantilever shelf. (Part of the grounds for the misconception may come from pre-plate tectonics geology, in which some theorists characterized lands as rising or falling in orogenies, without continental drift.)
• The aforementioned misconception has been referenced by Bill Hicks' album, Arizona Bay, the Tool song, Ænema, the Presidents of the United States of America song, "Naked and Famous" the Warren Zevon song, "Desperadoes Under the Eaves", and the Steely Dan song "My Old School." The 1968 song "California Shakin' Away" by the one-local-hit group Shango warns listeners to "get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho."
• The misconception also forms part of the plot of The End of the World, a popular Flash animation.
• On Duke Nukem 3D games. Duke explored the San Andreas Fault area on the final stages of Episode 1 LA Meltdown on The Abyssis
• The song "San Andreas Fault" by Natalie Merchant is about the San Andreas fault.
• In an Animaniacs song about the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the Warners incorrectly claim that the San Andreas Fault was the cause.

Earthquake is a 1974 disaster film that was among several box-office successful disaster films of the 1970s that places a recognizable all-star cast in life and death situations. ... Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel, Superman Superman, also known as Superman: The Movie, is a 1978 Warner Bros. ... Lex Luthor is a fictional DC Comics supervillain. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... For other uses, see Casino Royale (2006 film). ... For the Ian Fleming short story that inspired the film, see From a View to a Kill. ... Max Zorin is a fictional character in the James Bond film A View to a Kill. ... For recent activity in the region shown on this map see the USGS map for this location. ... A view of downtown San Jose, the self-proclaimed Capital of Silicon Valley. ... Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the fifth video game in the Grand Theft Auto series. ... San Fierro, San Andreas is a fictional city based on the real city of San Francisco in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. ... Urban Legend is also the name of a 1998 movie. ... Edgar Cayce (March 18, 1877 – January 3, 1945) (pronounced or like Casey) was an American psychic who claimed to channel answers to questions on subjects such as health, astrology, reincarnation, and Atlantis while in trance. ... For considerations of sea level change, in particular rise associated with possible global warming, see sea level rise. ... A transform fault is a geological fault that is a special case of strike-slip faulting which terminates abruptly, at both ends, at a major transverse geological feature. ...  Sediment  Rock  Mantle  The global continental shelf, highlighted in cyan The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent, which is covered during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas (known as shelf seas) and gulfs. ... The cantilevered beam (green) projects from its supports (blue), balanced by the structure (red block), which supports the load (red arrow). ... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... // Orogeny (Greek for mountain generating) is the process of mountain building, and may be studied as a tectonic structural event, as a geographical event and a chronological event, in that orogenic events cause distinctive structural phenomena and related tectonic activity, affect certain regions of rocks and crust and happen within... Plates in the crust of the earth, according to the plate tectonics theory Continental drift refers to the movement of the Earths continents relative to each other. ... William Melvin Hicks, better known as Bill Hicks, (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994), was a controversial American stand-up comedian, satirist and social critic. ... Arizona Bay is an album by comedian Bill Hicks, posthumously released in 1997 through Rykodisc. ... Tool is an American progressive rock band, formed in 1990 in Los Angeles, California, when drummer Danny Carey joined the rehearsal of his neighbor, singer Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Paul dAmour, when nobody else would show up. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Presidents of the United States of America has two meanings. ... Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock and roll musician and songwriter. ... Steely Dan is a Grammy-Award winning American rock band centered on core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. ... A Flash animation or Flash cartoon is an animated film which is created using Adobe Flash animation software and often distributed in the . ... Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter developed by 3D Realms and released on January 29, 1996 by Apogee Software, featuring the adventures of Duke Nukem, based on a character that had appeared in earlier platform games by the company: Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II. // Calander from Duke... Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne OShea Merchant (born October 26, 1963 in Jamestown, New York, USA) is a professional musician. ... Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as the shorter title Animaniacs, is an American animated television series, distributed by Warner Bros. ... The occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:30:55 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California, falling on in 1994. ...

See also

• Earthquake
• aftershock
• Richter scale
• Parkfield Geology
• Plate tectonics
• Geology
• Hayward Fault Zone
• Seismology
• Seismic retrofit
• Southern California
• Faults
• Farallon Trench

An earthquake is the result from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. ... Aftershocks are earthquakes in the same region of the mainshock (generally within a few rupture length) but of smaller magnitude and which occur with a pattern that follows Omoris law. ... The Richter magnitude scale (or more correctly local magnitude ML scale) assigns a single number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released by an earthquake. ... Parkfield is a village in Monterey County, California. ... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... For recent activity in the region shown on this map see the USGS map for this location. ... Seismology (from the Greek seismos = earthquake and logos = word) is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth. ... Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. ... For the urban complex straddling the United States-Mexico border, see Bajalta California. ... Old fault exposed by roadcut near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. ... The Farallon Trench was an ancient trench on the west coast of North America during the late Cretaceous period. ...

References

• Collier, Michael (Dec 1, 1999). A Land in Motion. UC Press. ISBN 0-520-21897-3. 
• Stoffer, Philip W. (2006). Where's the San Andreas fault? A guidebook to tracing the fault on public lands in the San Francisco Bay region. USGS. General Interest Publication 16. 
• Lynch, David K. (2006). Field Guide to the San Andreas Fault: See and Touch the World's Most Famous Fault on any one of Twelve Easy Day Trips. Thule Scientific. Full color, GPS coordinates, ISBN 0-9779935-0-7. 

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 66 days remaining. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

San Andreas Fault

• The Parkfield Experiment
• San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth
• Southern California Earthquake Data Center: San Andreas Fault
• USGS: The San Andreas Fault
• 360 panorama of the Carrizo Plain section of the fault taken from a Kite
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography (University of California, San Diego) study indicating that an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or greater is "overdue."
• Source for the Carrizo Plain images (USGS)
• Live Eye on the Earth
• Latest Earthquakes (USGS)
• Andrew Lawson: Discoverer of the San Andreas Fault
• The Day California Cracks at BusinessWeek online (09/19/05)
• Waiting for the big one by Shannon Brownlee (July 1986)

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Regions	Antelope Valley | Big Sur | Central Coast | Central Valley | Channel Islands | Coachella Valley | Conejo Valley | Cucamonga Valley | Death Valley | East Bay (SF) | Eastern California | Emerald Triangle | Gold Country | Greater Los Angeles | Inland Empire | Los Angeles Basin | Mojave | North Bay (SF) | North Coast | Northern California | Owens Valley | The Peninsula | Pomona Valley | Redwood Empire | Russian River | Sacramento Valley | San Francisco Bay Area | San Joaquin Valley | Santa Clarita Valley | Shasta Cascade | Sierra Nevada | Silicon Valley | South Bay (SF) | Southern California | Tech Coast | Tri‑Valley | Wine Country | Yosemite This list of regions of the United States includes official (governmental) and non-official areas within the borders of the United States, not including U.S. states, the federal district of Washington, D.C. or standard subentities such as cities or counties. ... A truck passes eastbound along the busy Highway 58 through the Antelope Valley. ... Big Sur is a thinly-settled region of the central California coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. ... The Central Coast is an area of California, United States, extending from Santa Cruz in the north to Santa Barbara in the south, but centering primarily on Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. ... The Central Valley of California Part of the Valley as seen from overhead A typical Central Valley scene at ground level The Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of the U.S. state of California. ... The Channel Islands of California, also called the Santa Barbara Islands, are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel in the United States of America. ... Coachella Valley The Coachella Valley is an irrigated agricultural and recreational desert valley in southern California east of Los Angeles. ... The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both Southeastern Ventura County and Northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California. ... The Cucamonga Valley is a region between the Los Angeles and San Bernardino areas, in San Bernardino County and Riverside County, of California, USA. It is located east of the Pomona Valley and it is a major site of wine production. ... Death Valley is a valley in the U.S. state of California, and is the location of the lowest elevation in North America at -282 feet (-86 meters). ... A part of the East Bay showing Concord, Walnut Creek, Martinez, Pleasant Hill and Clayton The East Bay is a subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. ... Eastern California is not a well-defined term. ... The Emerald Triangle is a collection of three counties in Northern California, consisting of Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity. ... Gold Country (also Mother Lode Country) is a region of northeastern California famed for the mines and mineral deposits which so famously brought the 49ers west for the California Gold Rush. ... The Greater Los Angeles Area, or the Southland, is the agglomeration of urbanized area around the city of Los Angeles, California. ... The Inland Empire and its regions within The Inland Empire refers to the region in Southern California located in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. ... The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the peninsular and transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles. ... For the indigenous American tribe, see Mohave. ... The North Bay is a subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States. ... The North Coast of the U.S. state of California is a mostly rural coastline on the Pacific Ocean stretching from the city of San Francisco to the border of Oregon characterized by cliffs, hills, and tide pools. ... Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. ... Owens Valley is the arid ranching valley of the Owens River in southeastern California in the United States. ... USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... The Pomona Valley, a part of the Inland Empire (the Pomona Valley is its own georgraphical area, and should not be bundled in with the Inland Empire. ... The Redwood Empire (also Redwood Coast or North Coast) is a region of California that stretches from San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon coast. ... The Russian River downstream of Duncans Mills The Russian River rises in the coastal mountains of Mendocino County, north of Ukiah, in Northern California. ... The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta. ... USGS satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. ... The Shasta Cascade region of California is located in the northeastern and north-central sections of the state bordering Oregon and Nevada, north of the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountain range. ... The Sierra Nevada (Spanish for Snowy Range) is a mountain range that is almost entirely in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of California. ... A view of downtown San Jose, the self-proclaimed Capital of Silicon Valley. ... The South Bay is a subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States and is roughly synonymous with Silicon Valley and the Santa Clara Valley. ... For the urban complex straddling the United States-Mexico border, see Bajalta California. ... Tech Coast is the nickname given to the Southern California region extending from Santa Barbara in the north to San Diego in the south. ... The Tri-Valley region of California is based around the San Francisco Bay Area cities of Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin and San Ramon in the three valleys from which it takes its name: Amador Valley, Livermore Valley and San Ramon Valley. ... Vineyard on Sonoma Mountain with background of the Mayacamas Mountains Wine Country is a region of Northern California in the United States that is known world-wide[1] as a premium wine-growing region since the mid-19th century. ... Yosemite National Park (pronounced Yo-SEM-it-ee, IPA: ) is a national park located largely in Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties, California, United States. ...
Metro areas	Bakersfield | Chico | Fresno | Los Angeles–Long Beach–Glendale | Modesto | Napa | Oakland–Fremont–Hayward | Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura | Redding | Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario | Sacramento–Roseville | Salinas | San Diego–Carlsbad–San Marcos | San Francisco–San Mateo–Redwood City | San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara | Santa Ana–Anaheim–Irvine | Santa Barbara–Santa Maria | Santa Cruz–Watsonville | Santa Rosa–Petaluma | Stockton | Vallejo–Fairfield | Visalia–Porterville | Yuba City In the United States, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has produced a formal definition of metropolitan areas. ... Nickname: Location of Bakersfield, California Coordinates: Country United States State California County Kern County Founded 1869 Government  - Mayor Harvey Hall Area  - City  114. ... Nickname: City of Roses, City of Trees Location of Chico in California Coordinates: Country State County United States California Butte Settled 1843 Founded 1860 Incorporated January 8, 1872 Government  - Mayor Andrew Holcombe  - City Council Scott Gruendl Steve Bertagna Larry Wahl Ann Schwab Mary Flynn Tom Nickell  - City Manager Greg Jones... Nickname: Location in the state of California County Fresno Government  - Mayor Alan Autry Area  - City 104. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government  - Type Mayor-Council  - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa  - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo  - Governing body City Council Area  - City  498. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: Country United States State California County Los Angeles County Government  - Mayor Bob Foster Area  - City  65. ... Nickname: The Jewel City Location of Glendale within Los Angeles County and the State of California. ... Modesto is the county seat of Stanislaus County in the U.S. state of California. ... Napa is the county seat of Napa County, California. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Fremont (IPA: ) is a city in California that was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Irvington, Mission San Jose, Niles, and Warm Springs. ... Hayward is a city located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area in Alameda County. ... Nickname: The City that Cares Location of Oxnard, California Coordinates: Country United States State California County Ventura County  - Mayor Dr. Thomas E. Holden Area    - City  36. ... Thousand Oaks is a city in Ventura County, California, in the United States. ... Coordinates: Country United States State California County Ventura Mayor Carl Morehouse Area    - City 84. ... Redding from space, April 1994 Redding (pop. ... Nickname: Location in the state of California Coordinates: Country United States State California County Riverside Government  - Mayor Ron Loveridge Area  - City  78. ... The San Bernardino skyline viewed from Grand Terrace, California San Bernardino is the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. ... Ontario is a city located in San Bernardino County, California. ... Location of Sacramento in California County Sacramento Government  - Mayor Heather Fargo Area  - City  99. ... Roseville is a city in Placer County, California, located in the metropolitan area of Sacramento. ... Nickname: Americas Salad Bowl Location of Salinas, California Country United States State California County Monterey Government  - Mayor Dennis Donohue Area  - City 19 sq mi (49. ... Nickname: Location of San Diego within San Diego County Coordinates: Country United States State California County San Diego Founded July 16, 1769 Incorporated March 27, 1850 Government  - Mayor Jerry Sanders  - City Attorney Michael Aguirre  - City Council Scott Peters Kevin Faulconer Toni Atkins Tony Young Brian Maienschein Donna Frye Jim Madaffer... Location of Carlsbad within San Diego County, California. ... San Marcos is a city located in the northern portion of San Diego County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 54,977. ... Nickname: Location of the City and County of San Francisco, California Coordinates: Country United States of America State California City-County San Francisco Government  - Mayor Gavin Newsom Area  - City  47 sq mi (122 km²)  - Land  46. ... San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Redwood City is a suburb located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. ... Nickname: Location of San Jose within Santa Clara County, California. ... Location of Sunnyvale within Santa Clara County, California. ... Official website: http://www. ... Location of Santa Ana within Orange County, California. ... Location of Anaheim within Orange County, California Coordinates: Country United States State California County Orange Government  - Mayor Curt Pringle Area  - City  50. ... Location of Irvine within Orange County, California. ... Nickname: Santa Barbara is situated on the southward-facing coast at far right. ... Santa Maria is the largest city in Santa Barbara County, California. ... Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California, United States. ... Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. ... Location of Santa Rosa, California Country United States State California County Sonoma Mayor Jane Bender Area    - City 104. ... This is the Balshaw Bridge which crosses over the turning basin of the Petaluma River. ... Nickname: Motto: Stocktons Great, Take A Look! Location in the state of California Coordinates: Country United States State California County San Joaquin County Incorporated 1850 Government  - Mayor Edward J. Chavez  - City Manager J. Gordon Palmer, Jr. ... Vallejo (pronounced IPA: in English; in the original Spanish) is a city in Solano County, California, United States. ... The Welcome to Fairfield roadside sign Fairfield Courthouse Fairfield is a city located northeast of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, USA. it is approximately 45 miles from both San Francisco and Sacramento. ... Visalia is a Central California city situated in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, approximately 230 miles southeast of San Francisco and 190 miles north of Los Angeles. ... Porterville is a city in Tulare County, California, United States. ... Town Square located in downtown Yuba City. ...
Counties	Alameda | Alpine | Amador | Butte | Calaveras | Colusa | Contra Costa | Del Norte | El Dorado | Fresno | Glenn | Humboldt | Imperial | Inyo | Kern | Kings | Lake | Lassen | Los Angeles | Madera | Marin | Mariposa | Mendocino | Merced | Modoc | Mono | Monterey | Napa | Nevada | Orange | Placer | Plumas | Riverside | Sacramento | San Benito | San Bernardino | San Diego | San Francisco | San Joaquin | San Luis Obispo | San Mateo | Santa Barbara | Santa Clara | Santa Cruz | Shasta | Sierra | Siskiyou | Solano | Sonoma | Stanislaus | Sutter | Tehama | Trinity | Tulare | Tuolumne | Ventura | Yolo | Yuba The U.S. state of California is divided into 58 counties. ... Official website: http://www. ... Alpine County is the smallest county, by population, in the U.S. state of California. ... Amador County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. ... Butte County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, north of state capital Sacramento. ... Calaveras County is a county located in Californias Gold Country. ... Colusa County is a county located in Californias Central Valley, northwest of Sacramento. ... Official website: http://www. ... Del Norte County is the northwesternmost county in the U.S. state of California, located on the Pacific coast south of Oregon. ... Location in the state of California Formed 1850 Seat Placerville Area  - Total  - Water 4,631 km² (1,788 mi²) 200 km² (77 mi²) 4. ... Fresno County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Stockton and north of Bakersfield. ... Glenn County is a county located in the California Central Valley north of Sacramento County. ... Humboldt County is a county located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of California, on the Pacific Ocean. ... Imperial County is a county located in the Imperial Valley, in the far southeast of the U.S. state of California, and borders both Arizona and Mexico. ... Inyo County is a county located in east-central California, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite National Park. ... Kern County is a county located in the southern Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. ... Kings County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, southeast of Fresno County. ... Lake County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of California, north of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Lassen County is a county located in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of California. ... Los Angeles County is a county in California and is the most populous county in the United States. ... Madera County is a county of California, located in the Central Valley north of Fresno County. ... Marin County (pronounced mah-RIN) is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. ... Mariposa County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. ... Islands off Mendocino A Beach in the City of Elk Mendocino County is a county located on the north coast of the U.S. state of California, north of the San Francisco Bay Area and Sonoma County and west of the Central Valley. ... Merced County is a county located in Californias Central Valley, north of Fresno and southeast of San Jose. ... Modoc County is a county located in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California, bounded by the state of Oregon to the north and the state of Nevada to the east. ... Mono County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California, to east of the Sierra Nevada between Yosemite National Park and Nevada. ... Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. ... “Napa Valley” redirects here. ... Nevada County is a county located in Californias Sierra Nevada, in the Mother Lode country. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Placer County is a county located in California, USAs Sierra Nevada, in the Gold Country. ... Plumas County is a county located in Californias Sierra Nevada. ... Riverside County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of California, stretching from Orange County to the Colorado River, which is the border with Arizona. ... Sacramento County is a county of the U.S. state of California. ... San Benito County is a county located in the Coast Range Mountains of the U.S. state of California, south of San Jose. ... San Bernardino County is the largest county in the contiguous United States by area, containing more land than each of nine states. ... San Diego County is a county located on the Pacific Ocean in the far southwest of the U.S. state of California, along its border with Mexico. ... Nickname: Location of the City and County of San Francisco, California Coordinates: Country United States of America State California City-County San Francisco Government  - Mayor Gavin Newsom Area  - City  47 sq mi (122 km²)  - Land  46. ... San Joaquin County is a county located in Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, just east of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... San Luis Obispo County is a county located on the central Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, between Los Angeles and the Bay Area. ... Official website: http://www. ... Santa Barbara County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, just west of Ventura County. ... Santa Clara County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. ... Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, just south of the San Francisco Bay Area, it forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. ... Shasta County is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, in the Cascade Mountains. ... Sierra County is a county located in Californias Sierra Nevada, northeast of Sacramento on the border with Nevada. ... Siskiyou County is a county located in far northernmost California, USA, in the Cascade Mountains on the Oregon border. ... Solano County is a county located in central part of the U.S. state of California, about halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento and is one of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. ... Sonoma County is on the north Pacific coast of California, in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. ... Stanislaus County is a county located in Californias California Central Valley, between Stockton and Fresno. ... Sutter County is a county located along the Sacramento River in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, north of state capital Sacramento. ... Location in the state of California Formed 1856 Seat Red Bluff Area  - Total  - Water 7,672 km² (2,962 mi²) 29 km² (11 mi²) 0. ... Trinity County is a county located in northwestern California, along the Trinity River and among the Klamath Mountains. ... Tulare County is a county located in U.S. state of Californias Central Valley, south of Fresno. ... Tuolumne County is a county located in the U.S. state of Californias Sierra Nevada. ... Ventura County . ... Yolo County is located in the northern part of the U.S. state of California, bordered by the counties of Sacramento, Solano, Napa, Lake, Colusa, and Sutter. ... Yuba County is located in the U.S. state of Californias Central Valley, north of Sacramento, along the Feather River. ...