California is one of the states in the US. This state is very famous for many things. There are many people who decide to visit California on their vacation. You can find so many interesting places that you can visit in this state. One of the most interesting places that you can visit in California is San Andreas Fault. The San Andreas Fault if a fault that extends through California and it’s roughly 810 miles (1300 km) long. This fault is categorized as continental transform fault. If you want to know more about this fault, check these San Andreas Fault Facts that might be useful for you. Some of these facts are quite interesting, especially for those of you who plan to visit this fault in your vacation to California.
The Segments of San Andreas Fault
One of the most interesting facts about San Andreas Fault is its origin. Based on the facts, this fault creates tectonic boundary between North American Plate and Pacific Plate. The motion of this fault is horizontal or strikes-lip right-lateral. Other San Andreas Fault Facts that you might want to know is that the fault is categorized into three main segments. Each segment of this fault has different degree of risk for earthquake. Each segment also has different characteristics as well. The most significant segment for its earthquake risk is the southern segment. This segment passes within Los Angeles about 35 miles of this city.
The History of San Andreas Fault
According to the data, the San Andreas Fault was first discovered by Professor Andrew Lawson in 1895. Andrew Lawson is a professor from UC Berkeley. He discovered the northern segment of this fault. This fault is named after the lake that can be found in a valley that is located between two plates of this fault. This lake is called San Andreas so the fault is called using the same name. In San Andreas Fault Facts, it’s said that after the earthquake that occurred in 1906 on San Francisco, Lawson has concluded that the San Andreas Fault extends all the way passes the southern California. The west part of the fault which is known as the Pacific Plate moves to the northwest while the other plate, the North American Plate, which is located on the east part moves to southwest.
The Southern Segment of the Fault
The plate boundary is hypothesized will not change. Based on this hypothesis, the projected motion of the fault indicates that the west part of landmass on San Andreas Fault which is including Los Angeles will slide past San Francisco eventually. The landmass then will continue slide to northwest passes the Aleutian Trench. This will occur over a period that is predicted twenty million years. Other interesting San Andreas Fault Facts is that the San Andreas Fault started to form about 30 million years ago in mid Cenozoic era. On the other hand, the southern segment of this fault has been only existed for approximately 5 million years. The southern segment of this fault stretches all the way down from Monterey County to Salton Sea. This segment is capable to create earthquake with 8.1 magnitudes.