The Hayward Fault Zone is a geologic fault zone capable of generating significantly destructive earthquakes. This fault is about 74 mi (119 km) long, situated mainly along the western base of the hills on the east side of San Francisco Bay. It runs through densely-populated areas, including the cities of Richmond, El Cerrito, Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro, Hayward, Fremont, and San Jose.
The Hayward Fault is parallel to its more famous (and much longer) westerly neighbor, the San Andreas Fault, which lies offshore and through the San Francisco peninsula. To the east of the Hayward lies the Calaveras Fault. The Hayward Fault merges with the Calaveras Fault east of San Jose.
North of San Pablo Bay, and somewhat offset from the Hayward Fault is the Rodgers Creek Fault, considered by many to be an extension of the Hayward Fault Zone. Another fault further north, the Maacama Fault, is also considered to be part of the "Hayward Fault subsystem".
While the San Andreas Fault is the principal transform boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, the Hayward Fault takes up a share of the overall motion between the plates.
Read more about Hayward Fault Zone: Tectonics of The Hayward Fault Zone, Notable Earthquakes, Prehistoric Earthquakes, Recent Activity, Probability of Future Activity, Principal Segments
Famous quotes containing the words fault and/or zone:
“The Law is the true embodiment
Of everything that’s excellent.
It has no kind of fault or flaw,
And I, my Lords, embody the Law.”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)
“Light is meaningful only in relation to darkness, and truth presupposes error. It is these mingled opposites which people our life, which make it pungent, intoxicating. We only exist in terms of this conflict, in the zone where black and white clash.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)