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In the Fault Zone

In the Fault Zone Photo by G.K. Gilbert, U.S. Geological Survey.

In the Fault Zone
How Earthquakes Shape the Bay Area

by Horst Rademacher

On April 18, 1906, a massive earthquake centered just west of San Francisco ruptured the earth from Humboldt to San Juan Bautista. While the more dramatic traces of this 7.8 temblor may be hard to find one hundred years later, the tectonic forces that moved the earth that day are still relentlessly shaping our young and active landscape, carrying us towards another cataclysm in the near future.

From the Apr-Jun 2006 issue
 Published April 01, 2006
Length: moderately-short

On The Move Photo by Barrie Rokeach

On The Move
Portraits of a Tectonic Landscape

by Doris Sloan

All of the familiar landforms we see here in the Bay Area—ridges, cliffs, lakes, and even San Francisco Bay itself—are products of the same titanic encounters between tectonic plates that produce our frequent quakes. Through a geologist's trained eye, we learn to interpret the signs these forces have left on the land around us.

From the Apr-Jun 2006 issue
 Published April 01, 2006
Length: moderately-short

In the Fault Zone

Earthquake Resources

Compiled by Sue Rosenthal

From the Apr-Jun 2006 issue
 Published April 01, 2006
Length: moderately-short