We need wayyy more than 10. Carlsbad Desaliantion plant makes 50 MGD and only serves 15% of San Diego county. We would need 20+ 100MGD plants to even make a dent
When we moved to the Southern California mountains in 1980, the fault's big one was said to be 30 years overdue. We lived through the Landers/Barton Flats 6.3 in June 1992 without damage, thanks to the log cabin's flexibility and strength. We left in 2020. The big one hasn't happened yet.
It is as if development is done everyone knows that they live on the fault line they fear missing out on the beauty so they live there for the enjoyment,it doesn’t matter whether or not Something Happens they just wanna live on a beach with a view there short-lived desires
Unfortunately the next major quake may not be San Andreas one. The one that is most likely to rupture is the ridyer ridge creek fault. Which runs smack through vellejo California and perhaps crosses the water which is the Hayward fault.
I read about a young man, who as a teenager lived in Los Angelos during the quake there in the 80's? (not sure of the year) He vowed just as soon as he was able, he was moving away from the area...and he did. He relocated in the state of Washington, near MT St Helens and he wasn't there very long before the mountain erupted. I'm not sure if he stayed there or moved on yet again.
And it’s not the Tejón pass it’s the Cajón pass and not interstate 5 which runs along the coast of California. Interstate 15 cuts across San Andreas fault at the Cajón pass.
@@melvinthomas9292 You might be thinking of US Highway 101 (the western-most of the US highways) which does run roughly, on-and-off, run up the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. It starts just a little south-east of DTLA and ends in Olympia, WA after having made a big loop around the coast of the Olympic Peninsula. It is one of America's truly epic highways. I-5 runs (roughly) along the coast from the Mexican border, through San Diego, past Capistrano Beach then turns inland a bit into through Anaheim (Disney Land!), and then L.A., Burbank, San Fernando, over the "Grapevine" (Tejón Pass), up the middle of California in the Central Valley through Sacramento before it begins its slow climb up into Redding then Lake Shasta, Mt. Shasta, Yreka then the Oregon border. It continues north through to Portland OR., Seattle, WA, Bellingham WA, until its end at the Canadian Border. I-15 starts from I-8 just north of San Diego, heads inland up into the San Fernando Valley (near Rancho Cucamonga), over the Cajón Pass into the Mojave Desert, continues NE to Las Vegas NV, then north to Salt Lake City and eventually ends at the Canadian Border in Montana. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and lived there most of my life. I have driven all three of these routs multiple times over the years. I know them very, very well.
@@DataTime27 I've been over both many times myself. The San Andreas Fault is much more visible at the I-15 crossing due to the deep cut into the hillside at the fault. You can really see the twisted and folded rock layers in that cut. It's pretty amazing to see.
As a native Southern Californian, I've lived through several bigger earthquakes. It's true that if you are in a quiet room, you can often hear the low pitch of it coming just before you feel it. Also, you can tell how close/far away it is from the type of shaking. If, your earthquake feels more like a rolling side to side motion, it originated farther away and was probably significant. If it is more violent, with up and down motion and very jerky, it originated nearby. I also heard that there's earthquake weather, which is when extreme temperatures change throughout the week.
I was sitting in a room on the Tustin Marine Corps Base looking at the dropped ceiling. The ceiling had a ripple that looked like a swell on the ocean that was moving toward me. Then everything started shaking. I could actually see the earthquake coming before I felt it.
I recently learned that if the southern part of the San Andreas had The Big One, we will feel it and be very affected by it here in southern Arizona. Yikes!
Hi there! Geophysicist here! Really cool video, especially liked the drone shots. A few key points I'd like to address for accuracy: While most people assume faults are lines, they are actually consisted of many fault lines (mm to m scale) within a given fault zone of some width (usually a few tens of meters wide, but can be a few 100s as well), especially at the surface. As you go in depth they likely converge into a singe fault plane or few main fault planes. The valley at the top of the Tejon Pass, the one in the video, is the entire fault zone. There are smaller strands of the San Andreas on the north side of the bridge that crosses I-5, while the cool rock feature you pointed out was on the south side. Also, Tejon is pronounced Te-ho-an (same with Cajon as Ca-ho-an). The Pacific Plate is an oceanic plate, not a continent unlike the North American Plate. You forgot to include the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake which was on the San Andreas Fault near Santa Cruz, although some argue it originated on a splay of the San Andreas and not exactly on the San Andreas. Interesting that the 2015 study was correct about a 6 or higher earthquake occurring in Southern California as in 2019, the Ridgecrest Earthquake sequence had a 6.4 and a 7.1. The Parkfield earthquakes occur regularly and around the same magnitude due to the different lithology (geology of the strata) at depth. In the central region of the San Andreas Fault the rocks transition from granite in the south to sedimentary and metamorphic features towards the north. This is due to the region having a subduction zone offshore which occurred prior to the existence of the San Andras Fault. It is believed that serpentinite created from subduction can be found at depth below the San Andreas and the area around it. Hydrothermal interaction with this mineral can chemically change it into talc, one of the softest minerals which essentially lubricates the fault plane and allows the San Andreas in this region to be constantly moving (or creep). Between Parkfield and Carizzo plane, the fault transitions from fully locked to fully creep and somewhere in between the fault kinda does both. This is why we can get similarly sized earthquakes on semi-regular intervals. Some say that the Fort Tejon earthquake was a Parkfield earthquake that just slipped a bit too much into the fully locked section. But who knows lol. Hope this gives some more context on the San Andreas :)
Thanks for the informative reply. I live in Watsonville, which is near the epicenter of the Loma Prieta earthquake...and I happened to be at work when it hit. I worked at Moss Landing, at the Kaiser plant, right next to the PG&E power plant, which has 500' tall stacks. I had heard those stacks move during an earthquake, so went charging down a flight of stairs to get out into the open to see it....sure enough, they were moving and I watched them slowly return to plumb. About then, the manager from the plant next door came running over, his face still white, and exclaimed, "Those stacks were moving 50' at the top" Had they been aligned a little differently, they would have smacked each other. I met my wife 15 years ago, while on a solo motorcycle trip, and all of this time we have lived 210 miles apart (but this is soon changing). The San Andreas fault line is a few miles east of me and I live on the Pacific Plate, while my wife lives on the American Plate. In the '89 quake, we moved about 6' closer. I've long joked with her....if we wait long enough, all we'll have to do is 'hop' across the faultline. A few miles from where I live is a granite quary which is located right on the faultline, and the other half is said to be somewhere 110 miles north, about 10 miles or so north of San Francisco, but of course, it is under water. Also, at Parkfield, there is a quaint restaurant, which I have been stopping by about once a year for lunch/dinner for over 40 years. Which reminds me, it's been a while. There is a sign/placard on the wall which reads... If you're here and the earth begins to shake.. Head outside, but don't forget your steak! After the dust had settled, geologists said we had gained 6' in elevation and had moved 6' farther north. When I told my buddy that, he remarked, "Good! I didn't like where I used to live anyway! BHE
Wow, I spent more time in the comments than the video: I need to start it again, fascinating! (But then: I'm texting from near Seattle...) Google Dr. Nick Zentner ("Nick on the Rocks") from Central Washington University if you don't already know him. Good show, y'all! 👍🖖
Has there been any research into intentionally lubricating plates in many areas simultaneously with with oil drilling or fracking technology? Computational modeling this would be groundbreaking (pun!). This could allow constant slip instead of harsh earthquakes.
I live in the city of Highland which I am pretty much on the San Andreas fault line. My house creaks everyday of not just traffic but small jolts, local and nearby. Am I scared? Not really. Am I prepared? Always. When traveling up to lake arrowhead/Big bear through Mentone, you can see the mill creek fault lines leading up to the San Andreas. A trip to the Salton sea is also a pretty neat place to be along side the San Andreas fault line.
Also important to note that after the Northridge Earthquake in 1994; the majority of the high rises in downtown Los Angeles alone had major cracks in the reinforced steel including the newer supposed "quake safe" structures. It has been estimated that somewhere between 40% and 60% of high rises could now collapse directly due to this weakening that happened during the Northridge Quake. Funny thing how we've known about this for over 28 years now(since Northridge); yet the proper retrofitting to fix this problem has not occurred.
Thank you for the effort. Great commentary on a topic that we all have heard about most of our lives but nice to see it illuminated. And also, a poignant reminder of what is to come.
It was. Most websites don't list it as a major San Andreas earthquake. Probably because it was only a 6.9 - However I lived through it and it was a big deal in California. So fair point to you that it should be included in the list
when I was out in Silicon Valley years ago, I lived in the San Mateo area and would go cycling down in the Crystal Springs resevoire. The San Andreas fault runs through the valley. There was a spot on the bike trail with a small plaque marking where the fault was on the trail. You could stand with one foot on the Pacific plate and the other on the North American plate.
Amazing you didn't mention the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. It was a 6.9, and took out a section of the Bay Bridge, collapsed the 880/Cypress Viaduct, and many other areas of damage, as well as many deaths and injuries.
Any connection between the 300 year quake along San Andreas was connected to the last rupture of Cascadia? (known to be in January of 1700 due to Japanese records of the tsunami.)
San Bernardino resident here . I’m on the fault line . My backyard is the 215 freeway . The only way out of my side of the city and for emergency services to come help is to go under the overpass that’s very old . Way number 2: through little mountain . It’s a road built on a mountain . So we are so screwed if we need help . But hey living in this area you would never think you were in San Bernardino.
I lived in Palmdale and surrounding area for my entire life! The last house we lived in had the San Andreas right in our back yard! I’m so glad I moved far away!
Jokes aside, great job peaks my interest and I actually feel a tiny bit smarter after watching this video. Good luck and I hope your channel gets more attention.
California native here. Ft Tejon, and Tejon pass is promounced "tah-hone" or "ta hone" And I have actually walked in the faultline area down in the fault cravasse itself. It has lots and lots of fossil shells etc in the soil. A fascinating place.
the fault ran directly through my hometown and you could see the two sides because there was just a spot in the sidewalk that was like a foot higher than the spot next to it
I don't even live anywhere near an active fault line and have a 6500watt gas generator in the garage in the event of hydro outage. If I lived along the San Andreas I'd definitely add that to my must-have list of essentials. Also a few decent-sized tanks of propane (for BBQ) to cook food. I'm not a 'prepper' - but some things are just good common sense.
I lived through the Northridge '94 quake and at my house (I was still living with my parents) we have 5 days no power and 8 days no water. My parents had to have half their house rebuilt from the damage.
I was in Van Nuys, near the Court House. I was awake B4 she hit it felt like I was ontop of a table cloth that was being straighted out, rolled through & I could hear it crashing into & under the Santa Monica Mountains.
When was in Junior High School, my school was actually built on the fault. In the late 70s we had a moderate earthquake in the middle of English class. My desk was right under a hanging light, next to the plate glass window, and next to a metal paperback book rack. I was the only student who got under my desk. When other students started making fun of me, the teacher said I was the only one who did the right thing. That shut them up. There wasn’t any major damage, but it was scary. Then I lived through the Loma Prieta quake in 1989, and that was terrifying
I always thought earthquakes were cool until the 7.0 Landers and 6.8 Northridge earthquakes. Those were really scary especially since they happened at night. I can't even imagine an 8.0+
@@Meowmix4U after Loma Prieta of course power was out for a bit so we couldn’t watch the news. My neighbors’ son, who I grew up with and was still friends with, lived in Oregon at the time. Once phones were working, he kept calling his parents with updates. He had been watching the World Series, and told us about the embarcadero freeway and I-80 collapses, the marina fire and the bay bridge. At first we didn’t believe him, but he gave details so we knew it was true.
@@thomasbradley4505 My boss was in Berkeley and called me at 5pm. I left the office and drove home in El Segundo (S of LAX). It was on the news when I got home 10 minutes later. My boss watched the freeway drop in front of him. Would have been on it if he hadn't called me. He thought he had a flat tire.
Different tectonic plates are not different "continents". A continent is one of the larger continuous masses of land, namely, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia, listed in order of size. (Europe and Asia are sometimes considered a single continent, Eurasia.)
The video didn't include the term 'continent' as far as I heard but used the term 'plate' which if entirely consistent with the theory of plate tectonics. 'Continent' is a ill defined term in geology and as you seem to be aware there are various definitions which some of your list make at times and at others not. In fact there some claims there're only 3 with Antarctica, Europe + Asia and Africa as one super large connected one, and the Americas as the last. Australia is considered to be too small to be included.
@@user-uy6uc5ey5qNear the beginning of the video, when one was standing on one tectonic plate (the north american side) and the other was standing on the other plate (the pacific side) they said that they were standing on "different continents." And @factsoverfeelings1776, I was confused by their use of continents here, too.
In between the 2004 Parkfield Earthquake and the 1906 Great San Francisco Earthquake was the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Kind of a big miss there fellas.
As we keep drilling and fracking it creates relief of pressure hence the endless micro quakes in park field and everywhere els we’ve fracked. And oil is along fault lines
It's not really a secret, but the strongest California earthquakes of the past 52 years, were not on the San Andreas Fault Zone (SAFZ). Neither the 6.6 1971 San Fernando EQ nor the 6.7 1994 Northridge EQ were on the SAFZ; both were on blind faults, not previously mapped, amid the mesh of tectonic fracturing related to the mountain-building of the western Transverse Ranges. Also, neither the 7.1 2019 Ridgecrest EQ, nor the 7.1 1999 Hector Mine EQ, nor the 7.3 1992 Landers EQ were associated with the SAFZ. The latter quakes pertain to an accruing trend of quake epicenters which align with the Walker Lane Deformation Belt and the Long Valley Caldera, along the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada, with implications of eventual transfer of SAFZ transform fault role, inland to link the East Pacific Ridge to the western flank of the Basin and Range Extension Zone.
Two other considerations. Those nearer to the fault should consider getting an auto gas line shut-off valve. Some areas require it. Also, earthquake insurance is available in CA. It can be purchased with.a range of deductibles and is very reasonable.
Most earthquake insurance coverage is not only expensive, but comes with a high deductible, and is the reason my most Californians don't carry earthquake insurance even though many insurance companies do push it.
@@blackholeentry3489 I don't think it's particularly expensive, especially if you regard it as catastrophic coverage. You can adjust the deductible to suit the desired annual cost. Mine is $50K, but I only pay $300/yr. I regard that as a pretty good deal.
A year after Northridge I took the train to Santa Barbara. I saw house after house with a blue tarp on the roof where the brick fireplace chimney had fallen thru the roof.
I lived in Los Angeles as a boy in 1971 when I experienced the San Fernando quake. I now live in Tucson AZ so earthquakes are not a big concern here. I would imagine when the big one hits Southern Cal we'll feel it here in Southern AZ. When the Imperial Valley quake struck in 2010 about 300 miles away from here, I was sitting on my rocker recliner watching TV when suddenly it felt as though someone behind me was rocking my chair. I turned and there was no one there. Suddenly my daughter came running out of her room screaming " daddy the whole house is shaking!" I looked outside and water in the pool was sloshing. At that moment I wondered if California just had an earthquake. A short time later the local news confirmed it.
A feature I find neat, but wasn't mentioned, in Lebec and Frazier Park, the San Andreas actually splits another fault. The Garlock fault. This goes along the Tehachapi mountains. You can see it in satellite images.
In 1992 there was a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Lander California, and was called the most substantial earthquake sequence to occur in California in the last 40 years. There have been many more significant earthquakes in California after the "infamous 1906 quake in San Fran. Some examples are,: there was the 1952 earthquake, a 7.3-magnitude quake that hit Kern County, was the third largest earthquake in recorded California history. In 1971, a 6.6 earthquake hit Sylmar. Its epicenter was the Magic Mountain amusement park, rattling outward 300 miles along the southern California coast. It killed 65 and injured 2,000. In 1989, a 6.9 earthquake hit Loma Prieta, Calif. It felled Bay Area freeway interchanges, interrupted a World Series and caused $10 billion in damage. The most recent earthquake was in 2019, when a 7.1-magnitude quake hit near Ridgecrest, Calif. Thirty million people from Sacramento to Baja Mexico felt its 24 shocks and aftershocks over three terrifying days.
Thanks. If I'm not mistaken all of those earthquakes you mentioned were caused by fault lines other than the San Andreas except for Loma Prieta. That one doesn't get recorded as a major San Andreas earthquake, but as you pointed out it probably should be.
@@DataTime27 they are all part of the San Andreas fault zone, which is really a more accurate way of looking at the relationship between the two plates. And considering how big Ridgecrest was and how much damage Loma Prieta did, they should definitely be included in the history.
The epicenter of the Fort Tejon (pronounced "teh hone") earthquake of 1857 is not known. Foreshocks may have been centered near Parkfield but the area that experienced the worst shaking during the main quake was Fort Tejon located near the "big bend" portion of the SA fault. The quake ruptured the ground surface for more than 200 miles between Parkfield and Wrightwood and the surface along the fault was offset by as much as 30 ft. The low number of deaths reported is due to the low population in central/southern California in 1857. However the quake is estimated to have been 8.0, stronger than the SF 1906 quake. The Carizzo Plain is a great place to view the fault trace. I'm from Bakersfield and have visited the Wallace Creek offset many times.
I live in the central valley of California Lemoore California. if you go to Parkfield California there is seismograph equipment there you can access it from Highway 46 and Highway 41 and if you were to travel to a little town called Hollister California and stop at Dunn Park you will see the uplift of the ground there at the park and if you walk the neighborhood you will find curb offset in the older part of town. Dunn Park is off of Monterey Street the Fault runs through Hollister. also what Hollister is known for is the Independence motorcycle rally it’s a really cool little town!!
my wife and i used to live in san jaun batista back in the 90's and the fault kinda ran on the edge of town. we were a block away from the seismograph station.' whole lotta shakin goin on'.
I was standing outside in Cupertino California when the Loma Prieta earthquake happened in 1989 - you can definitely hear these large earthquakes, I will never forget the freight train like roar that proceeded the start of the shaking you could see ripples pulsing through the ground then suddenly absolute silence dust in the air and car alarms going off.
Haven't had a big earthquake in CA in awhile. I remember back in the 90s there was the Loma Prieta and the Northridge quakes that were pretty epic, seems like its been pretty quiet the past 2 decades.
@@DataTime27 Maybe the Ridgecrest quakes are overlooked because of it's location. Unlike Northridge or SF it lacks the complex infrastructure of over passes, high rises and millions of people. I'm located approx 125 SW of Ridgecrest and what I remember the most is the duration of the quakes and I've ridden out quite a few.
The NA Plate is moving south? I was informed that it moves WSW due to mid-Atlantic ridge seafloor spreading. Please enlighten us as to the forces that are causing the NA Plate to move south.
I should have said that the North American plate appears to move south from the perspective of us on the Pacific plate. The Pacific plate is moving north or northwest
Sadly, I don't think the next "big one" will be a problem just for California. I wouldn't be surprised if it set off activity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The last major activity from that zone was rather spectacular according to accounts from the time. One that always caught my attention was rattling windows and swinging church bells in Boston. Fun for the whole country!
There is geological evidence that the Northern SAFZ and the Cascadia Subduction Zone have triggered one another in the past. The last major Cascadia quake was in 1700. Imagine the SAFZ letting go, with the rupture heading up to the CA/OR state line, heading west off shore, then triggering a Cascadia event that continues from the CA state line all the way up to the North end of Vancouver Island in BC Canada. We know about the estimated 8.7 - 9+ magnitude1700 event due to the Japanese recording the "orphan tsunami" which suddenly hit the Japanese coast without an accompanying felt earthquake event. Yep, the tsunami from that EQ still did damage in Japan after traveling all the way across the Pacific Ocean. That one involved about 620 miles of Cascadia fault rupture with an average slippage of 66 feet. 323 years since the last release. Historically, we are about due for another one... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700_Cascadia_earthquake
The southern part of the fault line ends directly under the Salton Sea and I live in southern California and 40 minutes from the Salton Sea where the Niland geyser is at as well mud pots u name it in only in Coachella Valley
I thought that the San Andreas continued south into the Gulf of California which it helped form when it violently ruptured millions of years ago which tore the Baja Peninsula from the Mexican mainland.
I heard a story about a native american legend of a massive flood that happens every 300 years, around the area of Portland and Vancouver. I'm pretty sure when the big one hits, a big tsunami will follow
There's several excellent viewpoints of the Big Bend and Carrizo Plain on Hudson Ranch Road west of Pine Mountain Club. From the high elevation you can see 100+:miles in every direction. It's an incredible (and little known) 23 mile strip of twisty asphalt that must be explored.
Good video, just a quick little correction. You're on the Pacific Plate and North American Plate. Not "Continent" There is no "Pacific" Continent. LOL Other than that, good video. Great for the use in schools to teach kids about earthquakes. Well done. :)
I remember the Loma Prete quake. I was in Livermore at the time. The news thought SF was gonna fall cuz the bay Bridge dropped the top deck. A by-product of the Great Quake.. the bank of Italy moved some stash to Livermore, ca. Last I heard the somewhat original building is still there.
Yes it was. It flattened the whole city pretty much. Native Santa Rosan here. We learned about earthquakes and being prepared at home and school. Under the desks, covering head and front curled up in a ball.
In many cases you are better off to be living on the fault. You get the initial jar/movement, it's the ripple effect that dies alot of damage. I was raised on the fault. I loved listening to my dad explain what's happening during an earthquake. I would NEVER want to live in a big city in an earthquake zone. Don't get me wrong, they can be terrifying. Learning about what's happening is fascinating to me. You want to feel completely powerless...experience an earthquake. God bless Japan!
Earthquakes are very complex physical phenomenon and no 2 quakes even on the same fault produce the same outcomes. Buildings can be designed to cope with various degrees of shaking, but you can't design a human structure to cope the movements that occur at fault lines when signifiant horizontal or vertical displacements happen. Classic recent example was in rural North Canterbury in NZ during the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. A house built to NZ quake standards was ripped in two as it sat over a fault line which had displacement of 3 or more metres, where as other buildings surrounding it, but not on the fault line has some damage but were largely intact despite having basically the same degree of shaking. I'm afraid the basics of physics and building disprove you claim. You don't want to build a structure on a fault.
Hi from New Zealand. You probably have the most famous fault line in the world. New Zealand has one of the most notorious fault lines outside of the United States called the Alpine Fault. Like the San Andreas It marks the boundary of two tectonic plates. Like the San Andreas, it hasn't moved for about 300 years. Like the San Andreas it is considered to be due for its next event. It is also a dextral strike slipping fault with the west side of the fault (Indo-Australian plate) moving northeast, and the east side (Pacific plate moving southwest. This might be where the similarities end. The Alpine Fault is a notoriously consistent fault that has slipped 26 times in the last 8,000 years and all have been around magnitude 8.0. ua-cam.com/video/WWLZCwi_yuw/v-deo.html
@Eidelmania Yes. I live right near the San Andreas faultline on the Monterey Bay and love fishing at lakes which are located right on the faultline. Not many people know or realize the fact that fish bite better here, especially during an earthquake! It has been reasoned why they do this is because they figure they are eating thier last meal!
I'm from NZ as well and also lived in the Bay Area and you've given some great info apart from your claim about no movement on the San Andreas for 300 yrs. There's have been significant quakes on the fault during the last 300 yrs including as recently as 28th Sept 2004 (mag 6.0) on the Parkfield section (central California) and there been 4 other major ones before that in 1857, 1906, 1957 and 1989 in the central and northern sections. I think you mistakenly picked up that the very southern US section of the fault which runs from San Bernardino through the Coachella Valley to the Salton Sea hasn't had major movement since 1690.
@@user-uy6uc5ey5q I do concede...you're right. There have been many earthquakes along the fault. However, at Parkfield, much equipment has been set up there to monitor earthquakes on both the American Plate and the Pacific Plate....where the sharp boundary of the plates can easily and visually be seen. There is a small cafe there "The Parkfield Inn" which I've been eating at for close to 50 years now...which reminds me....been a while since I've done that...and was once a favorite motorcycle destination of mine. The restaurant has had a long term policy.....if one is eating there and an earthquake hits "The meal is On the house"....or, quite possibly, on the floor!" In 1986, I toured both islands of NZ and visited your wonderful Milford Sound. I chose 1986, for as a lifetime amatuer astronomer, that was the year Halley's Comet returned, and which wasn't very visible from the northern hemisphere. Wasn't much better from the southern hemisphere either, and won't be any better in the next apparition, but because it returns only every 76 years, one takes whatever one can get. On another subject....I've a great friend from Aukland, who recently visited me again. He is a former English teacher, has had a long term fascination with John Stienbeck, which we have a museum here (On John Street in Salnas, CA....of course) He wanted to visit the museum, so spent a couple of nights at my place. For 35 years, I worked at a place at Moss Landing, CA, and was at work when the last major earthquake hit in 1989. This place is located right next to a major PG&E power generating plant with 500' tall cement stacks. I witnessed those stacks moving 50' at the top and had they been aligned slightly differently, would have smacked each other. A more modern generating plant has now been built, those 500' stacks were supposed to have been taken down in 2000, but here in 2023, remain standing. Wouldn't have wanted to be within a mile had those two stacks had actually collided. On another topic...1st met my wife while on a motorcycle trip and we have now been married for 12 years. All of this time, we have maintained two separate houses 210 miles apart, with San Francisco about midway between us, but that is about to change. Have been doing some major changes to this house in preparation to selling it. Every time I cross the Golden Gate bridge, I cannot help but think about my father, as he helped build it in the 30's. On that 1989 quake, siesmologists later concluded this area had moved 19' farther north and also gained 6' elevation. When I passed on this info to a favorite friend, he remarked, "Good! I didn't like where I used to live anyway!" BHE
@@user-uy6uc5ey5q Point taken. I was aware of those quakes, but had this idea in my head that whilst they occurred in the area of the San Andreas Fault the quakes occurred physically separate faults.
Actually, the San Andreas Fault does not run "right through" San Francisco, but passes into the Pacific just at the SE corner of The City. Not that that makes a lot of difference in terms of the threat.
The San Andreas Fault takes its first dive into the Pacific at Mussel Rock located just south of Daly City and misses the SW corner of San Francisco by six or seven miles.
something happens to the I-5, the entire west coast is in trouble..i remember when they put that freeway through North Hollywood in the 1960's... great video, thanks!
It is especially concerning since the port of LA and the port of long beach import something like 40% of US goods. They would be severed from the rest of the country.
I thought it was because some sites don't list it as a major earthquake for the San Andreas fault, but I think it might have just been an oversight, especially considering I actually lived through that earthquake 😝
Big what? The only real danger in a earthquake is crap falling on you, I’ve been through them all and was on the bay bridge when a section behind us fell. The only danger was stuff falling, the 101 fell on a bunch of cars ……the big one ? It would take a 8 or better for serious problems
Going to correct you here... The american content stops at the western edge of the colorado rockies. At least this is the latest info from actual Geologists. Everything west of the colorado rockies are called exotic terrains. That have been squished on to the side of the "original" (if you want to call it that) north american content. Geologists also are saying that alaska is pretty much a collection of exotic terrains. Definition of exotic terrain... A smaller land mass that gets drifted in to by a larger land mass... or the other way around. You learn something new everyday... or at least you should.😉
Yeah I probably should have mentioned the Loma Prieta earthquake especially since I lived through it 😁. The Northridge earthquake is a different fault line. This video is only about the San Andreas fault line. However in my next video I will talk about the Northridge earthquake.
@@DataTime27 The Northridge quake was on a sister fault to the San Andreas, and we was damn lucky when Northridge slipped it didn't cascade along the San Andreas either. I lived through both, had just got home from school when the Loma Prieta struck, and I was 400 miles from the epicenter, shook a 400 pound oak table around like it was on marbles. Northridge I slept thru though my mattress on my bed had shifted during that one.
It's rocking today, with earthquakes, right in the center of the fault line, around Mount Diablo. They are expecting a bigger quake, to go with these shallow, little ones.
Are people allowed to visit the San Andreas fault line do people go and visit and walk on the fault? If I were to visit Los Angeles I would love to visit the fault line and walk through and see what it's like.
The fault line is hundreds of miles long across lots of different properties, but usually it's hard to see. I would recommend going to Wallace Creek which is a public park in a very rural part of California
What about the 1994 - 7.4or2 Northridge earthquake? That was no joke i know for fact because I lived In Canoga Park when it happened and damn, it felt like the world was ending at that time sesh.
The biggest threat to California is they need to build 10 desalination plants .Colorado river cannot sustain 40million people and industrial farm's
We need wayyy more than 10. Carlsbad Desaliantion plant makes 50 MGD and only serves 15% of San Diego county. We would need 20+ 100MGD plants to even make a dent
@@dza420 yeah I understand...fresh water is life, desalination plants are a reliable source
Good lord you don't know what your talking about. Talk about perspective.
No, ban living in desert. It is coming.
Agreed!!!
When we moved to the Southern California mountains in 1980, the fault's big one was said to be 30 years overdue. We lived through the Landers/Barton Flats 6.3 in June 1992 without damage, thanks to the log cabin's flexibility and strength. We left in 2020. The big one hasn't happened yet.
Yeah it's a puzzling thing
It is as if development is done everyone knows that they live on the fault line they fear missing out on the beauty so they live there for the enjoyment,it doesn’t matter whether or not Something Happens they just wanna live on a beach with a view there short-lived desires
My dad left san Diego after the 89 earth quake lol
Unfortunately the next major quake may not be San Andreas one. The one that is most likely to rupture is the ridyer ridge creek fault. Which runs smack through vellejo California and perhaps crosses the water which is the Hayward fault.
I read about a young man, who as a teenager lived in Los Angelos during the quake there in the 80's? (not sure of the year) He vowed just as soon as he was able, he was moving away from the area...and he did. He relocated in the state of Washington, near MT St Helens and he wasn't there very long before the mountain erupted. I'm not sure if he stayed there or moved on yet again.
One minor quibble, "Tejon" is pronounced with a long "o" instead of "oo."
Exactly Tejón
And it’s not the Tejón pass it’s the Cajón pass and not interstate 5 which runs along the coast of California. Interstate 15 cuts across San Andreas fault at the Cajón pass.
@@melvinthomas9292 You might be thinking of US Highway 101 (the western-most of the US highways) which does run roughly, on-and-off, run up the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. It starts just a little south-east of DTLA and ends in Olympia, WA after having made a big loop around the coast of the Olympic Peninsula. It is one of America's truly epic highways.
I-5 runs (roughly) along the coast from the Mexican border, through San Diego, past Capistrano Beach then turns inland a bit into through Anaheim (Disney Land!), and then L.A., Burbank, San Fernando, over the "Grapevine" (Tejón Pass), up the middle of California in the Central Valley through Sacramento before it begins its slow climb up into Redding then Lake Shasta, Mt. Shasta, Yreka then the Oregon border. It continues north through to Portland OR., Seattle, WA, Bellingham WA, until its end at the Canadian Border.
I-15 starts from I-8 just north of San Diego, heads inland up into the San Fernando Valley (near Rancho Cucamonga), over the Cajón Pass into the Mojave Desert, continues NE to Las Vegas NV, then north to Salt Lake City and eventually ends at the Canadian Border in Montana.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles and lived there most of my life. I have driven all three of these routs multiple times over the years. I know them very, very well.
I was at Tejon pass aka the grapevine aka I-5 in this video. Cajon pass on the I-15 is a different pass that also crosses the San Andreas fault
@@DataTime27 I've been over both many times myself. The San Andreas Fault is much more visible at the I-15 crossing due to the deep cut into the hillside at the fault. You can really see the twisted and folded rock layers in that cut. It's pretty amazing to see.
As a native Southern Californian, I've lived through several bigger earthquakes. It's true that if you are in a quiet room, you can often hear the low pitch of it coming just before you feel it. Also, you can tell how close/far away it is from the type of shaking. If, your earthquake feels more like a rolling side to side motion, it originated farther away and was probably significant. If it is more violent, with up and down motion and very jerky, it originated nearby. I also heard that there's earthquake weather, which is when extreme temperatures change throughout the week.
I have the same experience with warm weather and low sounds during the Loma Prieta
earthquake in 1989
I was in San Francisco
I was sitting in a room on the Tustin Marine Corps Base looking at the dropped ceiling. The ceiling had a ripple that looked like a swell on the ocean that was moving toward me. Then everything started shaking. I could actually see the earthquake coming before I felt it.
Wow!
I recently learned that if the southern part of the San Andreas had The Big One, we will feel it and be very affected by it here in southern Arizona. Yikes!
😱
Hi there! Geophysicist here! Really cool video, especially liked the drone shots.
A few key points I'd like to address for accuracy:
While most people assume faults are lines, they are actually consisted of many fault lines (mm to m scale) within a given fault zone of some width (usually a few tens of meters wide, but can be a few 100s as well), especially at the surface. As you go in depth they likely converge into a singe fault plane or few main fault planes.
The valley at the top of the Tejon Pass, the one in the video, is the entire fault zone. There are smaller strands of the San Andreas on the north side of the bridge that crosses I-5, while the cool rock feature you pointed out was on the south side.
Also, Tejon is pronounced Te-ho-an (same with Cajon as Ca-ho-an).
The Pacific Plate is an oceanic plate, not a continent unlike the North American Plate.
You forgot to include the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake which was on the San Andreas Fault near Santa Cruz, although some argue it originated on a splay of the San Andreas and not exactly on the San Andreas.
Interesting that the 2015 study was correct about a 6 or higher earthquake occurring in Southern California as in 2019, the Ridgecrest Earthquake sequence had a 6.4 and a 7.1.
The Parkfield earthquakes occur regularly and around the same magnitude due to the different lithology (geology of the strata) at depth. In the central region of the San Andreas Fault the rocks transition from granite in the south to sedimentary and metamorphic features towards the north. This is due to the region having a subduction zone offshore which occurred prior to the existence of the San Andras Fault. It is believed that serpentinite created from subduction can be found at depth below the San Andreas and the area around it. Hydrothermal interaction with this mineral can chemically change it into talc, one of the softest minerals which essentially lubricates the fault plane and allows the San Andreas in this region to be constantly moving (or creep). Between Parkfield and Carizzo plane, the fault transitions from fully locked to fully creep and somewhere in between the fault kinda does both. This is why we can get similarly sized earthquakes on semi-regular intervals. Some say that the Fort Tejon earthquake was a Parkfield earthquake that just slipped a bit too much into the fully locked section. But who knows lol.
Hope this gives some more context on the San Andreas :)
Thanks bluesnote1. Yes I should have included the Loma Prieta Earthquake, especially since I lived through it :-D.
Thanks for the informative reply.
I live in Watsonville, which is near the epicenter of the Loma Prieta earthquake...and I happened to be at work when it hit. I worked at Moss Landing, at the Kaiser plant, right next to the PG&E power plant, which has 500' tall stacks. I had heard those stacks move during an earthquake, so went charging down a flight of stairs to get out into the open to see it....sure enough, they were moving and I watched them slowly return to plumb. About then, the manager from the plant next door came running over, his face still white, and exclaimed, "Those stacks were moving 50' at the top" Had they been aligned a little differently, they would have smacked each other.
I met my wife 15 years ago, while on a solo
motorcycle trip, and all of this time we have lived 210 miles apart (but this is soon changing). The San Andreas fault line is a few miles east of me and I live on the Pacific Plate, while my wife lives on the American Plate. In the '89 quake, we moved about 6' closer. I've long joked with her....if we wait long enough, all we'll have to do is 'hop' across the faultline.
A few miles from where I live is a granite quary which is located right on the faultline, and the other half is said to be somewhere 110 miles north, about 10 miles or so north of San Francisco, but of course, it is under water.
Also, at Parkfield, there is a quaint restaurant, which I have been stopping by about once a year for lunch/dinner for over 40 years. Which reminds me, it's been a while. There is a sign/placard on the wall which reads...
If you're here and the earth begins to shake..
Head outside, but don't forget your steak!
After the dust had settled, geologists said we had gained 6' in elevation and had moved 6' farther north. When I told my buddy that, he remarked, "Good! I didn't like where I used to live anyway!
BHE
Wow, I spent more time in the comments than the video: I need to start it again, fascinating! (But then: I'm texting from near Seattle...)
Google Dr. Nick Zentner ("Nick on the Rocks") from Central Washington University if you don't already know him.
Good show, y'all! 👍🖖
Thanks!
Has there been any research into intentionally lubricating plates in many areas simultaneously with with oil drilling or fracking technology? Computational modeling this would be groundbreaking (pun!). This could allow constant slip instead of harsh earthquakes.
I live in the city of Highland which I am pretty much on the San Andreas fault line. My house creaks everyday of not just traffic but small jolts, local and nearby. Am I scared? Not really. Am I prepared? Always. When traveling up to lake arrowhead/Big bear through Mentone, you can see the mill creek fault lines leading up to the San Andreas.
A trip to the Salton sea is also a pretty neat place to be along side the San Andreas fault line.
One correction. The North American plate is not moving south. It is actually moving west by south west (a more westerly direction).
Also important to note that after the Northridge Earthquake in 1994; the majority of the high rises in downtown Los Angeles alone had major cracks in the reinforced steel including the newer supposed "quake safe" structures. It has been estimated that somewhere between 40% and 60% of high rises could now collapse directly due to this weakening that happened during the Northridge Quake. Funny thing how we've known about this for over 28 years now(since Northridge); yet the proper retrofitting to fix this problem has not occurred.
thats scary
That was a bad one Northridge. The 10 freeway fell. I was working on the 7th floor that day. And the Whittier narrows.
Oh wow. My next video will actually touch on that a bit
@@90069socal1very scary
It all come down to $$$$$ amount, whats better? Spend billions to retrofit an office building or let the quake hit and collect the insurance money?
Thank you for the effort.
Great commentary on a topic that we all have heard about most of our lives but nice to see it illuminated. And also, a poignant reminder of what is to come.
Thanks!
Wasn’t the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake along the San Andreas fault??
It was. Most websites don't list it as a major San Andreas earthquake. Probably because it was only a 6.9 - However I lived through it and it was a big deal in California. So fair point to you that it should be included in the list
when I was out in Silicon Valley years ago, I lived in the San Mateo area and would go cycling down in the Crystal Springs resevoire. The San Andreas fault runs through the valley. There was a spot on the bike trail with a small plaque marking where the fault was on the trail. You could stand with one foot on the Pacific plate and the other on the North American plate.
Awesome!
Amazing you didn't mention the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. It was a 6.9, and took out a section of the Bay Bridge, collapsed the 880/Cypress Viaduct, and many other areas of damage, as well as many deaths and injuries.
Yeah I actually lived through it. It wasn't listed as a major San Andreas earthquake in my sources, but to your point it probably should have been.
What about the Los Banos quakes?
Any connection between the 300 year quake along San Andreas was connected to the last rupture of Cascadia? (known to be in January of 1700 due to Japanese records of the tsunami.)
San Bernardino resident here . I’m on the fault line . My backyard is the 215 freeway . The only way out of my side of the city and for emergency services to come help is to go under the overpass that’s very old . Way number 2: through little mountain . It’s a road built on a mountain . So we are so screwed if we need help . But hey living in this area you would never think you were in San Bernardino.
I lived in Palmdale and surrounding area for my entire life! The last house we lived in had the San Andreas right in our back yard! I’m so glad I moved far away!
the legendary, "BULGE" the Palmdale Bulge... a distant mirage
just remember to keep your emergency supplies where they will be safe/accessible if your home collapses!
Jokes aside, great job peaks my interest and I actually feel a tiny bit smarter after watching this video. Good luck and I hope your channel gets more attention.
Thanks!
It's "piques".
California native here.
Ft Tejon, and Tejon pass is promounced "tah-hone" or "ta hone"
And I have actually walked in the faultline area down in the fault cravasse itself. It has lots and lots of fossil shells etc in the soil. A fascinating place.
Tejon Pass (PMC) native here. It's pronounced with an 'e', not 'a', as in 'Te-hone'. Cajon Pass on I-15 has the 'a' sound.
@@saladbreath607 Yes, it's "teh-hone". In San Diego we have the city of El Cajon so I agree with you that first vowel is different.
the fault ran directly through my hometown and you could see the two sides because there was just a spot in the sidewalk that was like a foot higher than the spot next to it
Oh wow. What town was that?
@@DataTime27 hollister california
it would be really cool if we could see the fault moving in time lapse video over hundreds of years, that would be awesome to see
Discovered you through an advertisement on a Tom Scott video, great work!
Thanks!
The great job, your video creation style is too good and understanding. Thanks
I don't even live anywhere near an active fault line and have a 6500watt gas generator in the garage in the event of hydro outage. If I lived along the San Andreas I'd definitely add that to my must-have list of essentials. Also a few decent-sized tanks of propane (for BBQ) to cook food. I'm not a 'prepper' - but some things are just good common sense.
This is some great quality stuff! I love that voice when you say “it’s X time!!!!”
Also what drone is that? Is it from dji?
Thanks! Yes it's a DJI spark. It has great portability
Love this channel, glad I found you guys.
I lived through the Northridge '94 quake and at my house (I was still living with my parents) we have 5 days no power and 8 days no water. My parents had to have half their house rebuilt from the damage.
😢
I was in Van Nuys, near the Court House. I was awake B4 she hit it felt like I was ontop of a table cloth that was being straighted out, rolled through & I could hear it crashing into & under the Santa Monica Mountains.
😮
What amazed me was the 101 was fine but the 10 was flattened .. Crazy huh 😳
You have a gift my man. You present subjects that could very boring…but you make them very interesting. Imagine if all the teachers had your gift.
Imperial Valley, CA had a 6.8 on Easter Sunday April 4, 2010. It was the Baja California earthquake of a 7.2
Really cool video ! Loved the 80's video game music and references 👌. Also very informative definitely liked this video
Thanks!
When was in Junior High School, my school was actually built on the fault. In the late 70s we had a moderate earthquake in the middle of English class. My desk was right under a hanging light, next to the plate glass window, and next to a metal paperback book rack. I was the only student who got under my desk. When other students started making fun of me, the teacher said I was the only one who did the right thing. That shut them up. There wasn’t any major damage, but it was scary. Then I lived through the Loma Prieta quake in 1989, and that was terrifying
😮
Woww
I always thought earthquakes were cool until the 7.0 Landers and 6.8 Northridge earthquakes. Those were really scary especially since they happened at night. I can't even imagine an 8.0+
@@Meowmix4U after Loma Prieta of course power was out for a bit so we couldn’t watch the news. My neighbors’ son, who I grew up with and was still friends with, lived in Oregon at the time. Once phones were working, he kept calling his parents with updates. He had been watching the World Series, and told us about the embarcadero freeway and I-80 collapses, the marina fire and the bay bridge. At first we didn’t believe him, but he gave details so we knew it was true.
@@thomasbradley4505 My boss was in Berkeley and called me at 5pm. I left the office and drove home in El Segundo (S of LAX). It was on the news when I got home 10 minutes later. My boss watched the freeway drop in front of him. Would have been on it if he hadn't called me. He thought he had a flat tire.
Add amateur radio to your prep list. ‘When all else fails’ is ham radio mantra. HF and UHF/VHF always work.
I included a radio in my prep list
Different tectonic plates are not different "continents". A continent is one of the larger continuous masses of land, namely, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia, listed in order of size. (Europe and Asia are sometimes considered a single continent, Eurasia.)
The video didn't include the term 'continent' as far as I heard but used the term 'plate' which if entirely consistent with the theory of plate tectonics.
'Continent' is a ill defined term in geology and as you seem to be aware there are various definitions which some of your list make at times and at others not. In fact there some claims there're only 3 with Antarctica, Europe + Asia and Africa as one super large connected one, and the Americas as the last. Australia is considered to be too small to be included.
@@user-uy6uc5ey5qNear the beginning of the video, when one was standing on one tectonic plate (the north american side) and the other was standing on the other plate (the pacific side) they said that they were standing on "different continents." And @factsoverfeelings1776, I was confused by their use of continents here, too.
FYI, it's TAY-HONE, not TUH-HOON.
'Te-hone' pass. I lived there for 14 years.
Whatever!
In between the 2004 Parkfield Earthquake and the 1906 Great San Francisco Earthquake was the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Kind of a big miss there fellas.
As we keep drilling and fracking it creates relief of pressure hence the endless micro quakes in park field and everywhere els we’ve fracked. And oil is along fault lines
It's not really a secret, but the strongest California earthquakes of the past 52 years, were not on the San Andreas Fault Zone (SAFZ). Neither the 6.6 1971 San Fernando EQ nor the 6.7 1994 Northridge EQ were on the SAFZ; both were on blind faults, not previously mapped, amid the mesh of tectonic fracturing related to the mountain-building of the western Transverse Ranges. Also, neither the 7.1 2019 Ridgecrest EQ, nor the 7.1 1999 Hector Mine EQ, nor the 7.3 1992 Landers EQ were associated with the SAFZ. The latter quakes pertain to an accruing trend of quake epicenters which align with the Walker Lane Deformation Belt and the Long Valley Caldera, along the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada, with implications of eventual transfer of SAFZ transform fault role, inland to link the East Pacific Ridge to the western flank of the Basin and Range Extension Zone.
So, what do you think about the New Madrid fault line(living in N.Al.)?
I'm unfamiliar with that fault, but it sounds really interesting
Two other considerations. Those nearer to the fault should consider getting an auto gas line shut-off valve. Some areas require it. Also, earthquake insurance is available in CA. It can be purchased with.a range of deductibles and is very reasonable.
My earthquake insurance is less than $500 a year.
Most earthquake insurance coverage is not only expensive, but comes with a high deductible, and is the reason my most Californians don't carry earthquake insurance even though many insurance companies do push it.
@@blackholeentry3489 I don't think it's particularly expensive, especially if you regard it as catastrophic coverage. You can adjust the deductible to suit the desired annual cost. Mine is $50K, but I only pay $300/yr. I regard that as a pretty good deal.
A year after Northridge I took the train to Santa Barbara. I saw house after house with a blue tarp on the roof where the brick fireplace chimney had fallen thru the roof.
It seems you skipped the 1989 Loma Prieta magnitude 6.9 quake near Santa Cruz. It was a real shaker that caused major damage!
1906 Frisco fire. Back then many of the buildings used gas lights, as electric lights were just starting to be used.
Well done. The drone was a great tool toward understanding, before it faulted out.
Thanks!
I lived in Los Angeles as a boy in 1971 when I experienced the San Fernando quake. I now live in Tucson AZ so earthquakes are not a big concern here. I would imagine when the big one hits Southern Cal we'll feel it here in Southern AZ. When the Imperial Valley quake struck in 2010 about 300 miles away from here, I was sitting on my rocker recliner watching TV when suddenly it felt as though someone behind me was rocking my chair. I turned and there was no one there. Suddenly my daughter came running out of her room screaming " daddy the whole house is shaking!" I looked outside and water in the pool was sloshing. At that moment I wondered if California just had an earthquake. A short time later the local news confirmed it.
A feature I find neat, but wasn't mentioned, in Lebec and Frazier Park, the San Andreas actually splits another fault. The Garlock fault. This goes along the Tehachapi mountains. You can see it in satellite images.
Oh interesting. Thanks
In 1992 there was a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Lander California, and was called the most substantial earthquake sequence to occur in California in the last 40 years. There have been many more significant earthquakes in California after the "infamous 1906 quake in San Fran. Some examples are,: there was the 1952 earthquake, a 7.3-magnitude quake that hit Kern County, was the third largest earthquake in recorded California history. In 1971, a 6.6 earthquake hit Sylmar. Its epicenter was the Magic Mountain amusement park, rattling outward 300 miles along the southern California coast. It killed 65 and injured 2,000. In 1989, a 6.9 earthquake hit Loma Prieta, Calif. It felled Bay Area freeway interchanges, interrupted a World Series and caused $10 billion in damage. The most recent earthquake was in 2019, when a 7.1-magnitude quake hit near Ridgecrest, Calif. Thirty million people from Sacramento to Baja Mexico felt its 24 shocks and aftershocks over three terrifying days.
Thanks. If I'm not mistaken all of those earthquakes you mentioned were caused by fault lines other than the San Andreas except for Loma Prieta. That one doesn't get recorded as a major San Andreas earthquake, but as you pointed out it probably should be.
IMO ....anything over 4.0 is a worry....God forbid the movie SA comes true....a 9.6 in LA or SF?...I'd NOT want to b there😵💫🤯🤯😵💫🖖✌️
@Marsha Mariner the movie was b.s.
But a truly big quake will still be catastrophic.
@@DataTime27 they are all part of the San Andreas fault zone, which is really a more accurate way of looking at the relationship between the two plates.
And considering how big Ridgecrest was and how much damage Loma Prieta did, they should definitely be included in the history.
I worked for a DoD contractor when the quake hit China Lake. A lot of underground stuff on the base had to be repaired after the quake.
The epicenter of the Fort Tejon (pronounced "teh hone") earthquake of 1857 is not known. Foreshocks may have been centered near Parkfield but the area that experienced the worst shaking during the main quake was Fort Tejon located near the "big bend" portion of the SA fault. The quake ruptured the ground surface for more than 200 miles between Parkfield and Wrightwood and the surface along the fault was offset by as much as 30 ft. The low number of deaths reported is due to the low population in central/southern California in 1857. However the quake is estimated to have been 8.0, stronger than the SF 1906 quake. The Carizzo Plain is a great place to view the fault trace. I'm from Bakersfield and have visited the Wallace Creek offset many times.
What is your source for finding the location of the 1857 earthquake? I am using wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1857_Fort_Tejon_earthquake
Great video! I love the contrasting personalities
Thanks!
This was a great video! My first time on this channel. I can not figure out if this is 1 man or twin brothers?
Thanks! 😁
I live in the central valley of California Lemoore California. if you go to Parkfield California there is seismograph equipment there you can access it from Highway 46 and Highway 41 and if you were to travel to a little town called Hollister California and stop at Dunn Park you will see the uplift of the ground there at the park and if you walk the neighborhood you will find curb offset in the older part of town. Dunn Park is off of Monterey Street the Fault runs through Hollister. also what Hollister is known for is the Independence motorcycle rally it’s a really cool little town!!
my wife and i used to live in san jaun batista back in the 90's and the fault kinda ran on the edge of town. we were a block away from the seismograph station.' whole lotta shakin goin on'.
I was standing outside in Cupertino California when the Loma Prieta earthquake happened in 1989 - you can definitely hear these large earthquakes, I will never forget the freight train like roar that proceeded the start of the shaking you could see ripples pulsing through the ground then suddenly absolute silence dust in the air and car alarms going off.
Wow
Haven't had a big earthquake in CA in awhile. I remember back in the 90s there was the Loma Prieta and the Northridge quakes that were pretty epic, seems like its been pretty quiet the past 2 decades.
Ridgecrest 2019. Whole lotta shaken' going on.📉
Yep. I felt those
@@DataTime27 Maybe the Ridgecrest quakes are overlooked because of it's location. Unlike Northridge or SF it lacks the complex infrastructure of over passes, high rises and millions of people. I'm located approx 125 SW of Ridgecrest and what I remember the most is the duration of the quakes and I've ridden out quite a few.
FYI neither the Ridgecrest earthquake nor the Northridge earthquake were caused by the San Andreas fault, which is why they are not included here
Roger that. Stay safe!
The NA Plate is moving south?
I was informed that it moves WSW due to mid-Atlantic ridge seafloor spreading.
Please enlighten us as to the forces that are causing the NA Plate to move south.
I should have said that the North American plate appears to move south from the perspective of us on the Pacific plate. The Pacific plate is moving north or northwest
Sadly, I don't think the next "big one" will be a problem just for California. I wouldn't be surprised if it set off activity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The last major activity from that zone was rather spectacular according to accounts from the time. One that always caught my attention was rattling windows and swinging church bells in Boston. Fun for the whole country!
it inverted the missisipi river flow and swallow a WHOLE town!
There is geological evidence that the Northern SAFZ and the Cascadia Subduction Zone have triggered one another in the past. The last major Cascadia quake was in 1700. Imagine the SAFZ letting go, with the rupture heading up to the CA/OR state line, heading west off shore, then triggering a Cascadia event that continues from the CA state line all the way up to the North end of Vancouver Island in BC Canada.
We know about the estimated 8.7 - 9+ magnitude1700 event due to the Japanese recording the "orphan tsunami" which suddenly hit the Japanese coast without an accompanying felt earthquake event. Yep, the tsunami from that EQ still did damage in Japan after traveling all the way across the Pacific Ocean.
That one involved about 620 miles of Cascadia fault rupture with an average slippage of 66 feet. 323 years since the last release. Historically, we are about due for another one...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700_Cascadia_earthquake
Check out the 2017 Navy Doomsday Maps…7 western n states will be gone
The southern part of the fault line ends directly under the Salton Sea and I live in southern California and 40 minutes from the Salton Sea where the Niland geyser is at as well mud pots u name it in only in Coachella Valley
I thought that the San Andreas continued south into the Gulf of California which it helped form when it violently ruptured millions of years ago which tore the Baja Peninsula from the Mexican mainland.
I heard a story about a native american legend of a massive flood that happens every 300 years, around the area of Portland and Vancouver. I'm pretty sure when the big one hits, a big tsunami will follow
@Just Looking MUCH worse. It's terrifying what lurks in the ocean up there ... potentially like Japan in 2011 ...
There's several excellent viewpoints of the Big Bend and Carrizo Plain on Hudson Ranch Road west of Pine Mountain Club. From the high elevation you can see 100+:miles in every direction. It's an incredible (and little known) 23 mile strip of twisty asphalt that must be explored.
Oh awesome
Indeed. I grew up in the area and loved exploring the fault on the Carrizo and drove that road 200 times probably. Good times in the 80s.
Good video, just a quick little correction. You're on the Pacific Plate and North American Plate. Not "Continent" There is no "Pacific" Continent. LOL
Other than that, good video. Great for the use in schools to teach kids about earthquakes. Well done. :)
Thanks!
I remember the Loma Prete quake. I was in Livermore at the time. The news thought SF was gonna fall cuz the bay Bridge dropped the top deck.
A by-product of the Great Quake.. the bank of Italy moved some stash to Livermore, ca. Last I heard the somewhat original building is still there.
I was in Livermore then too! What did the back do?
@@DataTime27 lost me on that one.. the back do?
Oh sorry. What did the bank do?
I like your video
also, just a heads up, try avoid using nintendo's songs, they are really active in copyright claiming
I love the music! This is so entertaining and informative
Thanks!
Wonderfully prepared video. Respect from india
Thank you!
Majority of the Damage from the S.F. quake was from fires, @7:30 but it was also caused by the earthquake...
The greatest damage from the quake (not fire) was in Santa Rosa, CA.
Yes it was. It flattened the whole city pretty much. Native Santa Rosan here. We learned about earthquakes and being prepared at home and school. Under the desks, covering head and front curled up in a ball.
Been through a few good size ones
Los Banos also had a lot of liquefaction.
A while ago, I used to live about 10 minutes away from where this was filmed. Been there many times. Awesome demonstration of plate tectonics
Thanks!
In many cases you are better off to be living on the fault. You get the initial jar/movement, it's the ripple effect that dies alot of damage. I was raised on the fault. I loved listening to my dad explain what's happening during an earthquake. I would NEVER want to live in a big city in an earthquake zone. Don't get me wrong, they can be terrifying. Learning about what's happening is fascinating to me. You want to feel completely powerless...experience an earthquake. God bless Japan!
Earthquakes are very complex physical phenomenon and no 2 quakes even on the same fault produce the same outcomes. Buildings can be designed to cope with various degrees of shaking, but you can't design a human structure to cope the movements that occur at fault lines when signifiant horizontal or vertical displacements happen.
Classic recent example was in rural North Canterbury in NZ during the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. A house built to NZ quake standards was ripped in two as it sat over a fault line which had displacement of 3 or more metres, where as other buildings surrounding it, but not on the fault line has some damage but were largely intact despite having basically the same degree of shaking.
I'm afraid the basics of physics and building disprove you claim. You don't want to build a structure on a fault.
I'm actually working on a follow-up video where I ask what would happen to highways that cross the fault line. Would they be severed?
Hey, where'd you buy that bucket of dehydrated food @7.58?
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009779DUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Hi from New Zealand. You probably have the most famous fault line in the world. New Zealand
has one of the most notorious fault lines outside of the United States called the Alpine Fault. Like
the San Andreas It marks the boundary of two tectonic plates. Like the San Andreas, it hasn't
moved for about 300 years. Like the San Andreas it is considered to be due for its next event.
It is also a dextral strike slipping fault with the west side of the fault (Indo-Australian plate) moving
northeast, and the east side (Pacific plate moving southwest.
This might be where the similarities end. The Alpine Fault is a notoriously consistent fault that has
slipped 26 times in the last 8,000 years and all have been around magnitude 8.0.
ua-cam.com/video/WWLZCwi_yuw/v-deo.html
Oh wow. That's amazing. Thanks for the info!
@Eidelmania Yes. I live right near the San Andreas faultline on the Monterey Bay and love fishing at lakes which are located right on the faultline. Not many people know or realize the fact that fish bite better here, especially during an earthquake! It has been reasoned why they do this is because they figure they are eating thier last meal!
I'm from NZ as well and also lived in the Bay Area and you've given some great info apart from your claim about no movement on the San Andreas for 300 yrs. There's have been significant quakes on the fault during the last 300 yrs including as recently as 28th Sept 2004 (mag 6.0) on the Parkfield section (central California) and there been 4 other major ones before that in 1857, 1906, 1957 and 1989 in the central and northern sections.
I think you mistakenly picked up that the very southern US section of the fault which runs from San Bernardino through the Coachella Valley to the Salton Sea hasn't had major movement since 1690.
@@user-uy6uc5ey5q I do concede...you're right. There have been many earthquakes along the fault. However, at Parkfield, much equipment has been set up there to monitor earthquakes on both the American Plate and the Pacific Plate....where the sharp boundary of the plates can easily and visually be seen.
There is a small cafe there "The Parkfield Inn" which I've been eating at for close to 50 years now...which reminds me....been a while since I've done that...and was once a favorite motorcycle destination of mine. The restaurant has had a long term policy.....if one is eating there and an earthquake hits "The meal is On the house"....or, quite possibly, on the floor!"
In 1986, I toured both islands of NZ and visited your wonderful Milford Sound. I chose 1986, for as a lifetime amatuer astronomer, that was the year Halley's Comet returned, and which wasn't very visible from the northern hemisphere. Wasn't much better from the southern hemisphere either, and won't be any better in the next apparition, but because it returns only every 76 years, one takes whatever one can get.
On another subject....I've a great friend from Aukland, who recently visited me again. He is a former English teacher, has had a long term fascination with John Stienbeck, which we have a museum here (On John Street in Salnas, CA....of course) He wanted to visit the museum, so spent a couple of nights at my place.
For 35 years, I worked at a place at Moss Landing, CA, and was at work when the last major earthquake hit in 1989. This place is located right next to a major PG&E power generating plant with 500' tall cement stacks. I witnessed those stacks moving 50' at the top and had they been aligned slightly differently, would have smacked each other.
A more modern generating plant has now been built, those 500' stacks were supposed to have been taken down in 2000, but here in 2023, remain standing. Wouldn't have wanted to be within a mile had those two stacks had actually collided.
On another topic...1st met my wife while on a motorcycle trip and we have now been married for 12 years. All of this time, we have maintained two separate houses 210 miles apart, with San Francisco about midway between us, but that is about to change. Have been doing some major changes to this house in preparation to selling it. Every time I cross the Golden Gate bridge, I cannot help but think about my father, as he helped build it in the 30's.
On that 1989 quake, siesmologists later concluded this area had moved 19' farther north and also gained 6' elevation. When I passed on this info to a favorite friend, he remarked, "Good! I didn't like where I used to live anyway!" BHE
@@user-uy6uc5ey5q Point taken. I was aware of those quakes, but had this idea in my head that whilst they occurred in the area of the San Andreas Fault the quakes occurred physically separate faults.
Good job guys. Makes me want to go explore the fault too. 👍💪
It's not if... It's when.
Imagine a shift of three feet.
Actually, the San Andreas Fault does not run "right through" San Francisco, but passes into the Pacific just at the SE corner of The City. Not that that makes a lot of difference in terms of the threat.
The San Andreas Fault takes its first dive into the Pacific at Mussel Rock located just south of Daly City and misses the SW corner of San Francisco by six or seven miles.
@@r.pres.4121 Correct.
Well i think I found a channel that's about to blow up 👍
Thanks! Where did you find us?
@Data Time ads
Eame
*Same
something happens to the I-5, the entire west coast is in trouble..i remember when they put that freeway through North Hollywood in the 1960's... great video, thanks!
Thanks!
Yes it would, but the fault line runs across I-10,I-15,14 out of the LA area.These are the main roads in and out of the area.
It is especially concerning since the port of LA and the port of long beach import something like 40% of US goods. They would be severed from the rest of the country.
you found me on a veritasium video add lol love you video stills
Thanks! Glad you're with us!
I walked this spot back in 1999. Wallace Creek on the Carizzo Plain one hour drive time east of Paso Robles, CA.
Well, that bucket of freeze-dried food oughta keep ya...for a few days.
Amazing coverage by u guys keep going!!
Thanks for watching!
@@DataTime27 ❤️❤️❤️
There's always something to worry about
When you’re looking down from a plane the fault looks like someone took as giant knife and sliced through the ground.
This is gonna blow up..!
Work on more attractive thumbnail...& You are good to GO!
Why did you leave out the Loma Prieta Quake of 7.1 in 1989?
I thought it was because some sites don't list it as a major earthquake for the San Andreas fault, but I think it might have just been an oversight, especially considering I actually lived through that earthquake 😝
@@DataTime27 I did as well. I was in the Egg Head Computer Store in Fremont when it hit.
Quality content
Thanks!
Great informational video 😊
The big one will come one day.
Big what? The only real danger in a earthquake is crap falling on you, I’ve been through them all and was on the bay bridge when a section behind us fell. The only danger was stuff falling, the 101 fell on a bunch of cars ……the big one ? It would take a 8 or better for serious problems
Should put a big swing out there so when your sitting on it you have fun
Going to correct you here... The american content stops at the western edge of the colorado rockies. At least this is the latest info from actual Geologists. Everything west of the colorado rockies are called exotic terrains. That have been squished on to the side of the "original" (if you want to call it that) north american content. Geologists also are saying that alaska is pretty much a collection of exotic terrains. Definition of exotic terrain... A smaller land mass that gets drifted in to by a larger land mass... or the other way around. You learn something new everyday... or at least you should.😉
You'll love Nick Zentner
73 years old grow up in Pasadena and live in Laguna Woods now Ozuna FLT it’s going to happen isn’t it.?
The actual disaster in California, is in Sacramento.
How can you not mention the World Series Quake or the Northridge quake? both those where 6.0+
Yeah I probably should have mentioned the Loma Prieta earthquake especially since I lived through it 😁. The Northridge earthquake is a different fault line. This video is only about the San Andreas fault line. However in my next video I will talk about the Northridge earthquake.
@@DataTime27 The Northridge quake was on a sister fault to the San Andreas, and we was damn lucky when Northridge slipped it didn't cascade along the San Andreas either. I lived through both, had just got home from school when the Loma Prieta struck, and I was 400 miles from the epicenter, shook a 400 pound oak table around like it was on marbles. Northridge I slept thru though my mattress on my bed had shifted during that one.
It's rocking today, with earthquakes, right in the center of the fault line, around Mount Diablo. They are expecting a bigger quake, to go with these shallow, little ones.
What about the Loma Prieta in 1988 that cancelled the World Series?
Yes I should have included that one as well.
Are people allowed to visit the San Andreas fault line do people go and visit and walk on the fault? If I were to visit Los Angeles I would love to visit the fault line and walk through and see what it's like.
The fault line is hundreds of miles long across lots of different properties, but usually it's hard to see. I would recommend going to Wallace Creek which is a public park in a very rural part of California
So does it run through the 2nd biggest city in Ca , San Diego ???
It goes through the Salton Sea which is about 80 miles from San Diego
What about the huge 1994 Northridge quake. That definitely relieved pressure 30 years ago . No one remembers that.
0:53 "San Franciso, CA" a totally new town emerging from the ashes of the "big one"
I'm north of Palm Springs, could I possibly have beach front property? 😉
I live in Fresno California. Any earthquakes I los Angles we never felt but that’s not to say we won’t.
I remember a earths quake in the 80s that brought down some over passes and trapped people under them.
Jan. 1994 earthquake was a 7.1 mg! Its was big. Live in Cali 65.
I think you're referring to the Northridge earthquake. That was a different fault line
Amazing content. Keep it up!
Thanks!
What about the 1994 - 7.4or2 Northridge earthquake? That was no joke i know for fact because I lived In Canoga Park when it happened and damn, it felt like the world was ending at that time sesh.
Yeah that was a big earthquake, but it wasn't the San Andreas fault line