San Andreas Fault sparks latest earthquake in California

Photos

San Andreas Fault Trail - Los Trancos Open Space Preserve

see larger image

uploaded by iennae

• 

  uploaded by iennae | add comment

• 

  uploaded by iennae | add comment

• 

  uploaded by eekim | add comment

• 

  uploaded by eekim | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Sarah Crews | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Sarah Crews | add comment

• 

  uploaded by artq55 | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Robert Ungar | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Robert Ungar | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Robert Ungar | add comment

The San Andreas Fault was part of the system that sparked the lastest California earthquake on January 8th - part of the early season of California Earthquakes in 2009. 

According to the USGS Earthquake map, there have been a number of recent earthquakes and tremors in California.

The earthquake was a 4.5 on the richter scale and was centered about a mile south of San Bernadino county, but was felt in downtown Los Angeles, San Pedro, Orange County and parts of the High Desert. There was no reports of damages however and the shaking lasted only five to eight seconds. 

The earthquake struck at the northern end of the San Jacinto Fault, which is part of the San Andreas Fault system.

This fault runs about 800 miles in length through California and forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. 

The fault can be divided into three main segments: the Mojave segment in the south, and then the central and northern segments. The southern segment connects with the San Bernadino Mountain range, and the San Gabriel Mountains were actually formed from the movement along the San Andreas Fault. It runs all the way up to the northern segment where it connects with the Santa Cruz Mountain Range, out to the Pacifica and Mussel Rock, which was the epicentre of the devastating 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. 

Due to the concept of plate tectonics, the land that lies west of the Pacific Plate (see above) is moving slowly to the northwest, while the land east of the fault line is moving to the southwest. The rate of movement is about 33 to 37 mm a year.

Projected movement of the San Adreas Fault includes the land that is west of the fault line - where Los Angeles sits - will slide past San Francisco and then head northwest; but this will take about twenty million years.

A related story on the California Earthquake on NowPublic.