San Andreas Fault
hideThe San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that runs a length of roughly 800 miles (1,300 km) through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip (horizontal motion). It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate.
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.
For more information about San Andreas Fault, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with san andreas fault
Using new technique, scientists find 11 times more aftershocks for 2004 quake
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Using a technique normally used for detecting weak tremor, scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology discovered that the 2004 magnitude 6 earthquake along the Parkfield section of the San Andreas ...
Earthquakes actually aftershocks of 19th century quakes
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When small earthquakes shake the central U.S., citizens often fear the rumbles are signs a big earthquake is coming. Fortunately, new research instead shows that most of these earthquakes ...
New way to monitor faults may help predict earthquakes
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 01, 2009 |
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Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have found a way to monitor the strength of geologic faults deep in the Earth. This finding could prove to be a boon for earthquake prediction by pinpointing those faults that are likely ...
Major quakes can weaken seismic faults far away, scientists say
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- U.S. seismologists have found evidence that the massive 2004 earthquake that triggered killer tsunamis throughout the Indian Ocean weakened at least a portion of California's famed San Andreas ...
New study sheds light on earthquake hazard along San Andreas Fault
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 27, 2009 |
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New research by a team of scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) offers new insight into the San Andreas Fault as it extends beneath Southern ...
Tremors on southern San Andreas Fault may mean increased quake risk
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Increases in mysterious underground tremors observed in several active earthquake fault zones around the world could signal a build-up of stress at locked segments of the faults and presumably ...
Latest quake highlights Los Angeles seismic danger
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 19, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The latest earthquake to hit the nation's second-largest city was a garden-variety temblor by California standards, rumbling through on a Sunday evening when most residents were home eating dinner ...
Quake predictability still distant dream, say seismologists
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 07, 2009 |
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Claims by an Italian technician to have foretold the devastating quake which struck central Italy prompted seismologists on Tuesday to shake their heads in sadness and skepticism.
Scientists cable seafloor seismometer into California's earthquake network
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 19, 2009 |
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A newly-laid, 32-mile underwater cable finally links the state's only seafloor seismic station with the University of California, Berkeley's seismic network, merging real-time data from west of the San Andreas fault with ...
New liquefaction hazard maps of Santa Clara Valley, Northern California
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 27, 2009 |
3 / 5 (3) |
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New hazard maps for communities from San Jose to Palo Alto in Northern California delineate the probability of earthquake-induced liquefaction, based on three scenarios: a magnitude 7.8 on the San Andreas ...
