View of a portion of the San Andreas Fault cutting across Highway 14 in Palmdale in Los Angeles. Photo from Google Maps, Copyright 2018 Google.
The San Andreas Fault runs 750 miles through California, from the Salton Sea in the south in Imperial County to just offshore of Eureka in the north in Humbolt County. It consists of the clashing edges of the adjacent geologic Pacific and the North American tectonic plates. The fault is responsible for some of the largest reported earthquakes in California history, including the local Fort Tejon earthquake in 1857 and the San Francisco earthquake in 1906.
The San Andreas Fault is reported to be capable of generating an earthquake as large as a magnitude 8.1. Being that it runs only about 35 miles north of the center of Los Angeles, it threatens to deliver staggering death and destruction to the greater Los Angeles and Southern California region. Such a massive quake is commonly dubbed by Californians as “The Big One.”
The unusually-shaped Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce (often seen in past science fiction and western films) are a result of ancient activity along the San Andreas Fault, running through Los Angeles County. Photo courtesy of Hear2Heat at Wikimedia Commons.
A 74-mile stretch of the San Andreas Fault runs through Los Angeles County. From the south, it enters the county from the direction of the Cajon Pass in San Bernardino. It then runs northwest, between the northern foot of the San Gabriel Mountain range and Highway 138. It continues through Palmdale, where a portion can be seen along a Highway 14 road cut. The twisted rock formation there, seen along the freeway, is directly attributed to past movement of the fault. The fault then skirts the southwestern edge of Lancaster and runs along Elizabeth Lake Road, passing through the community of Elizabeth Lake. It then continues through the community of Gorman, after which it exits Los Angeles County, moving northward into the Tejon Pass in Ventura County.
Map tracing the San Andreas Fault (dotted orange line) through Los Angeles County. Los Angeles Almanac map.
Know What To Do Before, During, & After a Major Earthquake.
