California Earthquake Map Collection

Kern County Earthquake, 1952: This earthquake was the largest in the conterminous United States since the San Francisco shock of 1906. It claimed 12 lives and caused property damage estimated at $60 million. MM intensity XI was assigned to a small area on the Southern Pacific Railroad southeast of Bealville. There, the earthquake cracked reinforced-concrete tunnels having walls 46 cm thick; it shortened the distance between portals of two tunnels about 2.5 meters and bent the rails into S-shaped curves. At Owens Lake (about 160 kilometers from the epicenter), salt beds shifted, and brine lines were bent into S-shapes.

Many surface ruptures were observed along the lower slopes of Bear Mountain, in the White Wolf fault zone. The somewhat flat, poorly consolidated alluvium in the valley was erratically cracked and recontoured. The cracking along Bear Mountain indicated that the mountain itself moved upward and to the north. Southwest of Arvin, on the San Joaquin Valley floor, ground cracks traversed and split the concrete foundation of one house, causing partial collapse. The ground slumped; cotton rows were offset more than 30 centimeters; and pavement on one highway was crumpled for more than 300 meters. East of Caliente, one large crack, about 1.5 meters at its widest point and more than 60 centimeters deep, was observed. Fill areas in the mountainous region along U.S. Highway 466 (now State Highway 58) settled from a few centimeters to more than 30 centimeters in places, and a large part of the highway was cracked and wrinkled. Northeast of that highway, the ground was displaced vertically about 60 centimeters and horizontally about 45 centimeters.

Maximum MM intensities in nearby cities did not exceed VIII. At Tehachapi, Bakersfield, and Arvin, old and poorly built masonry and adobe buildings were cracked, and some collapsed.

Property damage was heavy in Tehachapi, where both brick and adobe buildings were hit hard, and 9 people were killed. Three people were killed in other towns. Although damage was severe, the total extent of damage to property did not exceed that in Long Beach in 1933. Only a few woodframe structures were damaged seriously in this earthquake, compared to the 1933 shock in which many such structures were thrown off foundations.

The generally moderate damage in Bakersfield was confined mainly to isolated parapet failure. Cracks formed in many brick buildings, and older school buildings were damaged somewhat. In contrast, however, the Kern General Hospital was damaged heavily. Multistory steel and concrete structures sustained minor damage, which commonly was confined to the first story. Similar kinds of damage also occurred at Arvin, which lies southeast of Bakersfield and west of Tehachapi.

Reports of long-period wave effects from the earthquake were widespread. Water splashed from swimming pools as far distant as the Los Angeles area, where damage to tall buildings was nonstructural but extensive. Water also splashed in pressure tanks on tops of buildings in San Francisco. At least one building was damaged in San Diego, and in Las Vegas, Nevada, a building under construction required realignment of the structural steel.

The main shock was felt over most of California and in parts of western Arizona and western Nevada. It was observed at such distant points as Stirling City, California, Phoenix, Arizona, and Gerlach, Nevada. The California Institute of Technology at Pasadena recorded 188 aftershocks of magnitude 4.0 and higher through September 26, 1952; six aftershocks on July 21 were of magnitude 5.0 and higher. (from: United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527: Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989, (revised), by C.W. Stover and J.L. Coffman, 1993, 418 pages) Larger map

San Francisco Earthquake, 1906: This earthquake is one of the most devastating in the history of California. The earthquake and resulting fires caused an estimated 3,000 deaths and $524 million in property loss. Damage in San Francisco resulting only from the earthquake was estimated at $20 million; outside the city, it was estimated at $4 million. The sensible duration of the shaking in San Francisco was about 1 minute.

The earthquake damaged buildings and structures in all parts of the city and county of San Francisco, although over much of the area, the damage was moderate in amount and character. Most chimneys toppled or were badly broken. In the business district, which was built on ground made by filling in the cove of Yerba Buena, pavements were buckled, arched, and fissured; brick and frame houses of ordinary construction were damaged extensively or destroyed; sewers and water mains were broken; and streetcar tracks were bent into wavelike forms. On or near the San Andreas fault, buildings were destroyed (one was torn apart), and trees were knocked to the ground. The surface of the ground was torn and heaved into furrow-like ridges. Roads crossing the faultline were impassable, and pipelines were broken. One pipeline that carried water from San Andreas Lake to San Francisco was broken, shutting off the water supply to the city. The fires that ignited soon after the onset of the earthquake quickly raged through the city because of the lack of water to control them. They destroyed a large part of San Francisco and intensified the loss at Fort Bragg and Santa Rosa.

This earthquake caused the most lengthy rupture of a fault that has been observed in the contiguous United States. The displacement of the San Andreas Fault was observed over a distance of 300 kilometers from San Juan Bautista to Point Arena, where it passes out to sea. Additional displacement was observed farther north at Shelter Cove in Humbolt County, and, assuming the rupture was continuous, the total length of rupture would extend to 430 kilometers. The largest horizontal displacement - 6.4 meters - occurred near Point Reyes Station in Marin County.

In areas where dislocation of fences and roads indicated the amount of ground movement, motions of 3 to 4.5 meters were common. Near Point Arena, in Mendocino County, a fence and a row of trees were displaced almost 5 meters. At Wright's Station, in Santa Clara County, a lateral displacement of 1.4 meters was observed. Vertical displacement of as much as 0.9 meter was observed near Fort Ross in Sonoma County. Vertical displacement was not detected toward the south end of the fault.

Although Santa Rosa lies about 30 kilometers from the San Andreas fault, damage to property was severe, and 50 people were killed. The earthquake also was severe in the Los Banos area of the western San Joaquin Valley, where the MM intensity more than 48 km from the fault zone was IX. Santa Rosa lies directly inland from the region of greatest motion on the San Andreas fault.

Trees swayed violently, and some were broken off above the ground or thrown down. The water in springs and artesian wells either increased or decreased its flow. A few sand craterlets formed in areas where water was ejected through cracks or fissures.

The region of destructive intensity extended over a distance of 600 kilometers. The total felt area included most of California and parts of western Nevada and southern Oregon. The maximum intensity of XI was based on geologic effects, but the highest intensity based on damage was IX. Several foreshocks probably occurred, and many aftershocks were reported, some of which were severe. (from: United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527: Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989, (revised), by C.W. Stover and J.L. Coffman, 1993, 418 pages) Larger map

San Fernando Earthquake, 1971 This destructive earthquake occurred in a sparsely populated area of the San Gabriel Mountains, near San Fernando. It lasted about 60 seconds, and, in that brief span of time, took 65 lives, injured more than 2,000, and caused property damage estimated at $505 million.

The earthquake created a zone of discontinuous surface faulting, named the San Fernando fault zone, which partly follows the boundary between the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Fernando-Tujunga Valleys and partly transects the northern salient of the San Fernando Valley. This latter zone of tectonic ruptures was associated with some of the heaviest property damage sustained in the region. Within the entire length of the surface faulting, which extended roughly east-west for about 15 kilometers, the maximum vertical offset measured on a single scarp was about 1 meter, the maximum lateral offset about 1 meter, and the maximum shortening (thrust component) about 0.9 meter.

The most spectacular damage included the destruction of major structures at the Olive View and the Veterans Administration Hospitals and the collapse of freeway overpasses. The newly built, earthquake-resistant buildings at the Olive View Hospital in Sylmar were destroyed, four five-story wings pulled away from the main building and three stair towers toppled. Older, unreinforced masonry buildings collapsed at the Veterans Administration Hospital at San Fernando, killing 49 people. Many older buildings in the Alhambra, Beverly Hills, Burbank, and Glendale areas were damaged beyond repair, and thousands of chimneys were damaged in the region. Public utilities and facilities of all kinds were damaged, both above and below ground.

Severe ground fracturing and landslides were responsible for extensive damage in areas where faulting was not observed. The most damaging landslide occurred in the Upper Lake area of Van Norman Lakes, where highway overpasses, railroads, pipelines, and almost all structures in the path of the slide were damaged severely. Several overpasses collapsed. Two dams were damaged severely (Lower Van Norman Dam and Pacoima Dam), and three others sustained minor damage. Widespread landslides and rockfalls blocked many highways in the area.

Felt throughout southern California and into western Arizona and southern Nevada. No foreshocks were recorded, but aftershocks were reported in the area for several months. (from: United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527: Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989, (revised), by C.W. Stover and J.L. Coffman, 1993, 418 pages) Larger map

Coalinga Earthquake, 1983: This earthquake caused an estimated $10 million in property damage (according to the American Red Cross) and injured 94 people. Damage was most severe in Coalinga, where the 8-block downtown commercial district was almost completely destroyed. Here, buildings having unreinforced brick walls sustained the heaviest damage. Newer buildings, however, such as the Bank of America and the Guarantee Savings and Loan buildings, sustained only superficial damage. The most significant damage outside the Coalinga area occurred at Avenal, 31 km southeast of the epicenter.

A disaster assessment by the American Red Cross listed the following statistics on damage in the area: almost destroyed-309 single-family houses and 33 apartment buildings; major damage-558 single-family houses, 94 mobile homes, and 39 apartment buildings; and minor damage-8ll single-family houses, 22 mobile homes, and 70 apartment buildings. Most public buildings, including the City Hall, hospital, schools, fire house, post office, and police station, sustained only minor damage.

Only six bridges of 60 surveyed in the area sustained measurable structural damage. This damage consisted of hairline cracks and spalling at the top of the support columns, fracturing and displacement of wingwalls and parapets, and settlement of fill.

All public utilities were damaged to some degree. The water system continued to function despite many leaks in its transmission piping. Gas was shut off for several days because of broken piping and leaks, but only temporary interruptions of electric and telephone services were reported. One large section of old concrete sewer pipe west of the downtown area partly collapsed, but this system also continued to function.

In the oil fields near Coalinga, surface facilities such as pumping units, storage tanks, pipelines, and support buildings were all damaged to some degree. One oil company administration building, about 7 kilometers north of Coalinga, sustained major structural damage and its two brick chimneys were toppled. Subsurface damage, including collapsed or parted well casing, was observed only on 14 of 1,725 active wells.

This earthquake triggered thousands of rockfalls and rockslides as far as 34 kilometers northwest, 15 kilometers south, and 26 kilometers southwest of the epicenter. Only a few slope failures occurred east of the epicenter because of the absence of steep slopes in that direction.

This damaging earthquake was caused by an 0.5-meter uplift of Anticline Ridge northeast of Coalinga, but surface faulting was not observed. Ground and aerial searches immediately after the earthquake revealed ground cracks and fissures within about 10 km of the instrumental epicenter, none of which appeared to represent movement on deeply rooted fault structures. About 5 weeks later, on June 11, however, an aftershock caused surface faulting about 12 kilometers northwest of Coalinga.

Felt from the Los Angeles area north to Susanville (Lassen County) and from the coast east to western Nevada. Through July 31, more than 5,000 aftershocks were recorded, of which 894 had a magnitude of 2.5 or larger. Most of the larger magnitude shocks were felt in Coalinga. (from: United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527: Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989, (revised), by C.W. Stover and J.L. Coffman, 1993, 418 pages) Larger map

Riverside County Earthquake, 1948: The earthquake probably was caused by displacement on the Mission Creek fault, one of the major branches of the San Andreas fault system in southern California. The highest intensities in the area were reported from the upper Coachella Valley from Thousand Palms to White Water, which also was the most densely populated area near the epicenter.

Considerable structural damage and slight cracks in the ground were observed in Desert Hot Springs. Some minor structural damage also occurred at Palm Springs. At Willis Palms, cracks formed in the ground and cliffs, riverbanks slumped, and springs increased in flow. Landslides and cracks in the ground were reported in the Indio Hills. Felt throughout southern California and at a few towns in western Arizona, southwest Nevada, and northern Baja California. About 72 aftershocks were accurately located in a zone 18 kilometers long, parallel to (but 5 kilometers north of) the trace of the Mission Creek fault. (from: United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527: Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989, (revised), by C.W. Stover and J.L. Coffman, 1993, 418 pages) Larger map