The presence of the San Andreas fault was brought dramatically to world attention on April 18, 1906, when sudden displacement along the fault produced the great San Francisco earthquake and fire. This earthquake, however, was but one of many that have resulted from episodic displacement along the fault throughout its life of about 15-20 million years.

Housing development along the San Andreas fault near San Francisco, California
(Photo by Robert E. Wallace).
Full size image is 43k.

This page is URL:http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/earthq3/intro.html
Maintained by John Watson
Last modified 06-24-97 (jmw)