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Active Fault
San Andreas Fault
Strike-Slip Fault (Right-Lateral) · United States of America
The San Andreas Fault is a strike-slip fault, where the two blocks slide horizontally past each other, right-lateral (the opposite block moves to the right). Its mapped traces are about 1,240 km long in the United States of America. It marks the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. Its slip rate is estimated between 1.9 and 30.5 mm per year depending on the section. Since 1900, 5 major earthquakes have occurred within 30 km of its trace.
- Type
- Strike-Slip Fault
- Sense of Slip
- Right-Lateral
- Mapped Length
- ≈ 1,240 km
- Slip Rate
- 1.9 – 30.5 mm per year
- Countries
- United States of America
- Plates
- Pacific Plate, North American Plate
Major Earthquakes Within 30 km
Deadly or magnitude 7+ earthquakes recorded by NOAA, most recent first.
- 19921992 Cape Mendocino Earthquakes · M 7.1
- 19921992 Landers Earthquake · M 7.63 deaths
- 19891989 Loma Prieta Earthquake · M 6.962 deaths
- 19521952 Kern County Earthquake · M 7.712 deaths
- 19061906 San Francisco Earthquake · M 7.9700 deaths
Sources: GEM Global Active Faults (Styron et Pagani, 2020), CC BY-SA 4.0, catalogue UCERF3 · NOAA NCEI · Bird (2003), PB2002 · Wikidata