San Andreas Fault Zone Mr. Kleinschrodt

Location California North American & Pacific Plates Major cities: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco Millions of people live on or near the fault

Transform North American & Pacific Plates are sliding past each other Pacific Plate is moving northwest, N. American Plate is moving southeast Moving 1.3-1.5 inches per year Fault itself is about 28 million years old

Features Earthquakes Intense folding of rocks in the locked sections Thousands of small earthquakes every year Creeping in sections that are in slow motion (Parkfield, CA)

Major Tectonic Events 1857 – Fort Tejon (7.9) 3000 deaths 1906 – San Francisco (7.9) 3000 deaths, destroyed the city, $400M damages 1952 – Kern County (7.3) 12 deaths, $50M damages 1989 – Loma Prieta (7.1) 57 deaths, $6B damages Future risk is high

Impact of the San Andreas Fault Zone California residents are urged to Be Prepared Statewide earthquake drill every year in October http://www.shakeout.org/ Government and business are spending millions of dollars to retrofit older buildings to withstand a large earthquake More research is being done to better predict and forecast earthquake risk Impact of the San Andreas Fault Zone Greater than 50/50 chance of having a major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault in the next 30 years (greater than 6.7) Experts agree California is overdue for a major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault

Resources http://www.sanandreasfault.org/ http://www.shakeout.org/ http://www.earthquakecountry.ino http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/earthq3/safaultgip.html