What is the San Andreas Fault?

The San Andreas Fault is a 1,050-kilometer-long fault spanning western and southern California and northern and eastern Baja California, Mexico, located at the junction of the Pacific and North American plates Office.

San andreas fault

Right!

The San Andreas Fault is a 1,050-kilometer-long fault spanning western and southern California and northern and eastern Baja California, Mexico, located at the junction of the Pacific and North American plates Office.

The Pacific plate west of the fault and the North American plate to the east are moving northwest and southwest respectively (the North American plate is measured to move to the southeast at the fault), with an average annual sliding distance of 33 to 37 mm. The compression force formed by the North American plate moving west forms the coastal mountains. Similarly, the Pacific plate moving north forms the transect mountains and Santa Cruz mountains.

San andreas fault

Earthquakes often occur near faults, including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale and the US Loma Preta earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 on the 1989 scale.