San Jacinto Fault Zone - Characteristics - Anza Seismic Gap

Anza Seismic Gap

For more details on this topic, see Seismic gap.

With at least six and as many as ten large events since 1890, the right-lateral strike-slip SJFZ is southern California's most restless fault, with the exception of several sections which have seen less frequent activity. In a 1975 study, one of these (a 40 km (25 mi) stretch) was labeled the "Anza to Coyote Mountain slip gap", and was further refined in a 1984 paper by seismologists Christopher Sanders and Hiroo Kanamori to include only a smaller 20 km (12 mi) section near the town of Anza. By studying several moderate events (and their aftershocks) that occurred in 1967 (4.7L), 1975 (4.8L), and 1980 (5.5L), Sanders and Kanamori determined the seismogenic but locked nature of the gap. Were the entire fault segment to rupture in a single event, this newly modified length limited the potential of the segment to generate a magnitude 6.5 earthquake, similar in size to previous events along the SJFZ. However, if the slip were to extend out of the Anza area, the earthquake could be up to, but not larger than 7.0 in magnitude.

Read more about this topic:  San Jacinto Fault Zone, Characteristics

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