Research Paper On San Andreas Fault

One of the biggest plates in California is the pacific plate, which is moving in a northwest direction while another one of California’s plates, the north American plate, is moving towards the southwest. The movement from the north American plates is creating compressional forces along the eastern section

The San Andreas fault line has caused constant development nightmares for large urban areas such as San Francisco as well as the other cities built on top of it. Fault lines are one of the side effects of the earth’s tectonic plates shifting that can result in devastating earthquakes. Some of the most devastating earthquakes in our modern era have occurred along the San Andreas fault line due to a dense population. The most notable and destructive earthquake on the San Andreas fault line occurred in San Francisco in 1906. The reason this earthquake was so deadly was because of its magnitude and the city’s poor planning. This earthquake was a wakeup call for San Francisco and force the city to revolutionize its knowledge on earthquakes and how to protect their city. Today San Francisco is one of the most well prepared cities for an earthquake and has made great discoveries in earthquake safety measures. The 1906 earthquake in San Francisco has drastically changed how the city has developed its zoning and building code policies, and its earthquake research.

According to Townend and Zoback (2004) the San Andreas Fault (SAF) region has been noted for its possession of stress orientations in addition to the lack of a distinct heat flow anomaly at the trace of the fault. These findings indicate that there are average shear tractions that are less than 20-25 MPa in the seismogenic upper crust. Oftentimes, shear tractions measure approximately 5 times greater than in the SAF. Due to the presence of high

The city has a mild year-round climate with an average of 201 days above 70 degrees. A sign of global warming is that the average surface temperature of the water has increased 3 degrees since 1950. San Diego lies on approximately 200 deep canyons and hills, creating small pockets of natural open space scattered throughout the city and giving it a mountainous geography. Due to this scattered open space, it causes a significant change in climate over short geographical distances. The San Diego River runs through the middle of San Diego while several reservoirs lie between and also separate the developed areas. The city also runs through two fault zones, the Rose Canyon and Point Loma faults, which are part of the San Andreas Fault system. It

The earthquake was located on the San Andreas fault which is a seismic zone between two of the earth’s tectonic plates. Seismic events which occur is caused as a result of the earth’s tectonic plates moving against each other and this can cause huge earthquakes and volcanoes (“Young”). The transform boundary passes through California and this is where the Pacific and North American plates move past each other without colliding. The event in which this occurred was the San Andreas fault (“Young”). When the plates move past each other and the resistance builds up, this causes an earthquake like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. This earthquake caused a separation and displacement in the landscape which was seen over several kilometers

On August 24, 2014 a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred in and around the city of Napa, CA. The earthquake killed one person and injured over 150 people. And these people were treated at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa [1]. More and more earthquakes occurred on this earth. So this grasps people’s attention.

The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake tectonic setting was in the outermost shell of earth known as the crust this is composed of rigid plates that have been moving for hundreds of millions of years. Two of these moving plates meet in western California; the boundary between them is a zone of faults, the principal one being the San Andreas fault. The horizontal sliding of the Pacific Plate relative to the North American Plate, causes earthquakes along the San Andreas fault and similar plates near the region. The San Andreas fault is a transform plate boundary, accommodating horizontal relative motions (usgs.gov).

The tectonic setting for the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake was in the outermost shell of earth consisting of rigid plates that have been moving for hundreds of millions of years. Two of these moving plates meet in western California; the boundary between them is a zone of faults, the principal one being the San Andreas fault. The Pacific Plate (on the west) slides horizontally northwestward relative to the North American Plate (on the east), causing earthquakes along the San Andreas and associated faults. The San Andreas fault is a transform plate boundary, accommodating horizontal relative motions (usgs.gov).

It’s been called the sleeping giant. Myths of California breaking off and floating away into the Pacific Ocean. This myth is one of the most popular to this day. Why? Because of a 800 mile long fault that makes it’s way through California called the San Andreas Fault. Beginning when the East Pacific Rise submerged under the North American Plate about 40 miles away from what is now Los Angeles. Spreading northwest and southeast, The San Andreas Fault or SAF gradually grew, and is still growing. The grinding plates, along with earthquakes, to this day are gradually reshaping California, as we know it. In this paper, we will look at the history of The SAF and learn what it is and what it could be capable of doing.

In recorded history, there have been 151 earthquakes in Nevada that were a magnitude of 3.5 or higher. As previously mentioned, the mountain ranges of Nevada are typically bound on one side or the other by a fault. There are quaternary faults that range in ages from less than 150 years to around 1.8 million years in existence. The property damage in Nevada from earthquakes was .2 million dollars between 1196 and 2014 based on information from department of energy for the state. As we studied in our textbook, earthquakes can by a number of things, such as shifting faults, or volcanic

California, and thus San Francisco, lies on the San Andres fault. The earthquake was caused when this fault suddenly shifted, with the rupture spreading for a total of 476 kilometres in northward and southward direction. “This fault is a continental transform fault, which forms part of the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate.” (1906 Earthquake: How long was the 1906 Crack? USGS Earthquake Hazards Program – Northern California, Accessed September 3, 2006). 1 The distance of the fault is of about 1300 kilometres, which runs the length of California from Cape Mendocino in the north to the Salton Sea in the south. Geologists have estimated that the fault moved as quickly as 2.74 kilometres per second. The San Andreas Fault, the source of this disaster, lies ten miles or deeper, at the meeting point of two tectonic plates, the Pacific and the North American. “The right-lateral strike-slip fault is characterized by mainly lateral motion in a dextral sense, where the western plate (Pacific plate) moves northward relative to the eastern plate (North American

The San-Francisco earthquake caused quite a lot of damage in the area, but what is an earthquake? An earthquake is the movement of tectonic plates along a transform boundary and what plate is California sitting on? The Pacific Plate which is not connected to the North American plate and the plate boundary is a transform boundary. Earthquakes occur so often there that people say it is like a rainstorm that is ignored. The place where the Pacific Plate is grinding along with the North American Plate is called the San Andreas Fault. As stated before the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8 which caused so much destruction a fire broke out. Nobody really knows where the fire started but it burned for 7 days and scorched over 500 city blocks leaving the once proud and powerful city into dust. The combination of the earthquake and fire is said to have killed “ Over 700 deaths by the earthquake and fire is now believed to be an understatement the total loss of life by a factor of 3 or 4.” (The Great 1906 San-Francisco Earthquake.)

The 9th of February 1971 an earthquake occurred in the lower parts of the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. The San Fernando earthquake was measured to have a magnitude of around 6.5, which caused severe damage to buildings and major freeways in the Los Angeles area. Two huge health care buildings in San Fernando caused the majority of deaths when they collapsed at both sides. The epicenter of the earthquake was located in the mountains and the most severe damages occurred in northern San Fernando Valley. However, the event impacted other densely populated areas in Los Angeles and caused huge difficulty for transportation as a result of failure in several roadways and freeway interchanges.

The San Andreas Fault is one of the most widely studied faults in the world. Scientists use an array of methods in collecting data and providing analysis of fault characteristics both past and present. Presently there are many differing hypothesis and models used to describe crustal movements and deformation within the Pacific and North American plate boundary. Historical earthquakes along this fault have proven to be rather large and devastating. This is important since the San Andreas Fault runs along many highly populated areas throughout Northern and Southern California. Through further research and analysis of this fault system scientists hope to solve

     An Earthquake is the shaking of the earth's surface caused by rapid movement of the earth's rocky outer layer. The sudden shaking of the ground that occurs when masses of rock change position below the Earth's surface is called an earthquake. The shifting masses send out shock waves that may be powerful enough to alter the surface of the Earth, thrusting up cliffs and opening great cracks in the ground.