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California's central coast earthquake hazards: New information about recently identified faults
April 09, 2009Seismologists are re-evaluating the earthquake potential of the Central Coast, a very complex tectonic region located west of the San Andreas Fault, between Monterey Bay and the Western Transverse Ranges. This area of increasing population growth ranks as one of the top 40 U.S. metropolitan areas with significant earthquake risk.
Speakers from the US Geological Survey, PG&E and academia will compare fresh data to illuminate the complexity of faulting in the central California coastal region.
Three talks will use separate datasets to focus on the California Central Ranges, Hosgri Fault Zone and nearby faults:
* Fault structure of the California Central Coast: Jeanne Hardebeck, US Geological Survey, will present and interpret new earthquake relocations and focal mechanisms for earthquakes occurring along the central California coast, including the offshore region near San Luis Obispo. A prominent newly-observed feature is a 25 km long linear trend of seismicity running just offshore and parallel to the coast-line in the region of Point Buchon. This seismicity trend is accompanied by a linear magnetic anomaly, and both the seismicity and the magnetic anomaly are truncated where they obliquely meet the Hosgri Fault. Focal mechanisms indicate that this feature is a vertical strike-slip fault.
* Geophysical characterization of the Hosgri Fault zone: High-resolution marine magnetic and seismic-reflection data collected offshore Point Buchon show that the Hosgri Fault represents a complex zone of steeply dipping faults that varies significantly in character along strike. The boundary of a northwest-trending linear magnetic anomaly off Point Buchon corresponds to a linear trend of small earthquakes, suggesting an active fault. Continued interpretation and geophysical modeling of magnetic, seismic reflection, and seismicity data will help determine whether or not the magnetic boundaries are fault boundaries, and if so, how these structures relate to the Hosgri Fault Zone.
* Constraints on 3-dimensional structure from gravity and magnetic data: V. E. Langenheim, US Geological Survey, will present analysis based on a new physical dataset that is sensitive to magnetic properties of rock, mapping fault boundaries. Her research suggests complex, non-linear features with intersecting faults. Fault and basin geometry will be important for estimating shaking potential of scenario earthquakes.
Seismological Society of America
* Fault structure of the California Central Coast: Jeanne Hardebeck, US Geological Survey, will present and interpret new earthquake relocations and focal mechanisms for earthquakes occurring along the central California coast, including the offshore region near San Luis Obispo. A prominent newly-observed feature is a 25 km long linear trend of seismicity running just offshore and parallel to the coast-line in the region of Point Buchon. This seismicity trend is accompanied by a linear magnetic anomaly, and both the seismicity and the magnetic anomaly are truncated where they obliquely meet the Hosgri Fault. Focal mechanisms indicate that this feature is a vertical strike-slip fault.
* Geophysical characterization of the Hosgri Fault zone: High-resolution marine magnetic and seismic-reflection data collected offshore Point Buchon show that the Hosgri Fault represents a complex zone of steeply dipping faults that varies significantly in character along strike. The boundary of a northwest-trending linear magnetic anomaly off Point Buchon corresponds to a linear trend of small earthquakes, suggesting an active fault. Continued interpretation and geophysical modeling of magnetic, seismic reflection, and seismicity data will help determine whether or not the magnetic boundaries are fault boundaries, and if so, how these structures relate to the Hosgri Fault Zone.
* Constraints on 3-dimensional structure from gravity and magnetic data: V. E. Langenheim, US Geological Survey, will present analysis based on a new physical dataset that is sensitive to magnetic properties of rock, mapping fault boundaries. Her research suggests complex, non-linear features with intersecting faults. Fault and basin geometry will be important for estimating shaking potential of scenario earthquakes.
Seismological Society of America
Fault Zone Current Events and Fault Zone News RSSSatellite data look behind the scenes of deadly earthquake
Using satellite radar data and GPS measurements, Chinese researchers have explained the exceptional geological events leading to the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake that killed nearly 90 000 people in China's Sichuan Province.
First complete image created of Himalayan fault, subduction zone
An international team of researchers has created the most complete seismic image of the Earth's crust and upper mantle beneath the rugged Himalaya Mountains, in the process discovering some unusual geologic features that may explain how the region has evolved.
Scientists return from first ever riser drilling operations in seismogenic zone
he Deep-sea Drilling Vessel CHIKYU successfully completed riser drilling operations on Aug. 31, for IODP Expedition 319, Stage 2 of the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE).
Listening to rocks helps researchers better understand earthquakes
When Apollo punished King Midas by giving him donkey ears, only the king and his barber knew. Unable to keep a secret, the barber dug a hole, whispered into it, "King Midas has donkey ears," and filled the hole. But plants sprouted from the hole, and with each passing breeze, shared the king's secret.
Tremors on southern San Andreas Fault may mean increased earthquake risk
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 an increased likelihood of a major quake, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study.
Understanding risk to Seattle's high-rise buildings from a giant Cascadian earthquake
The Cascadia subduction zone is likely to produce the strongest shaking experienced in the lower 48 states. Although seismic activity in the Pacific Northwest has been relatively low in the past two centuries, there is a growing consensus that this fault zone ruptures in giant earthquakes (magnitude exceeding 9); the last rupture is inferred to have occurred in 1700.
Potential for another large earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, say scientists
Three great earthquakes and destructive tsunamis over the past four years is not enough to spare the region of another large earthquake, warns an international group of earthquake researchers in their paper published in the 4 December issue of the journal Nature.
May 2008 earthquake in China could be followed by another significant rupture
Researchers analyzing the May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China's Sichuan province have found that geological stress has significantly increased on three major fault systems in the region.
Stress Buildup Precedes Large Sumatra Quakes
The island of Sumatra, Indonesia, has shaken many times with powerful earthquakes since the one that wrought the infamous 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Now, scientists from the California Institute of Technology and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences are harnessing information from these and earlier quakes to determine where the next ones will likely occur, and how big they will be.
Researchers at UCLA engineering discover theoretical model to predict jamming
Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have come up with a theoretical model to predict when granular materials become jammed.
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Build it Bigger Season 1 - Boot Camp & Fault Zone Tunnel Travel the world to break down the most astounding, complex engineering feats to date with architect Danny Forster. From the skyscrapers of Dubai to the amusement parks of Minnesota, explore the design and structure of these mega-constructions while learning first-hand knowledge and background facts about each site. Working with designers, engineers, builders, and those who work on these structures, discover the most dangerous, ingeniously executed aspects of each job. Boot Camp. Danny Forster's been on job sites all over the world, but to really learn how to operate construction equipment, he gets a crash course in everything from heavy equipment operation to getting lunch for the foreman. Fault Zone Tunnel. Go inside one of the most difficult and dangerous tunneling projects in the... |
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The Nature and Tectonic Significance of Fault Zone Weakening (Geological Society Special Publication, No. 186) by R. E. Holdsworth (Author), R. E. Holdsworth (Editor), R. A. Strachan (Editor), J. Magloughlin (Editor), R. J. Knipe (Editor) Many faults appear to form persistent zones of weakness that fundamentally influence the distribution, architecture and movement patterns of crustal-scale deformation and associated process in both continental and oceanic regions. This book brings together papers by an international group of Earth Scientists to discuss a broad range of topics centred upon the controls of fault weakening and the role of such faults during lithosphere deformation. Readership:Academic structural-tectonic geologists, microstructural geologists, rheologists, geophysicists and people studying geodynamics. Also, petroleum geologists, hardrock geologists, mining geologists, hydrogeologists and metamorphic geologists. Suitable for postgraduate students. Also available: Exhumation Processes: Normal... |
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Point Reyes and the San Andreas Fault Zone by Frank Binney (Author) The wild coastline and spectacular scenery of one of America s greatest natural treasures have been uniquely captured in this emotive collection of fine art photographs by internationally acclaimed aerial photographer Robert Campbell. For almost 40 years Campbell has made repeated flights over the Point Reyes peninsula and the adjacent San Andreas Fault Zone, interpreting the countryside in unique compositions as the weather and seasons change. Some of his striking photographs reveal recognizable landmarks in views beyond our land bound experience a stunning panorama of the Point Reyes Lighthouse, for example, taken from a seabird s perspective. Other images, no less powerful, frame small details and patterns on the ground that speak to us with their abstract beauty. Campbell s... |
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New Madrid dwellers, experts eye quake risk. (New Madrid fault zone): An article from: National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management by The National Underwriter Company (Publisher) This digital document is an article from National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, published by The National Underwriter Company on November 26, 1990. The length of the article is 954 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation Details Title: New Madrid dwellers, experts eye quake risk. (New Madrid fault zone) Publication: National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management (Magazine/Journal) Date: November 26, 1990 Publisher: The National Underwriter Company Issue: n48 Page: p10(2) Distributed by Thomson... | |
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Recency and character of faulting along the Elsinore fault zone in southern Riverside County, California (Special report - California Division of Mines and Geology ; 131) by Michael P Kennedy (Author) | |
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Texas Mammals East of the Balcones Fault Zone (W. L. Moody, Jr., Natural History) by David J. Schmidly (Author) | |
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