vix.ing · top · new · best · stats · spec

Potential for larger earthquakes in the East San Francisco Bay Area due to the direct connection between the Hayward and Calaveras Faults

2015/04/02 by Estelle Chaussard, Roland Bürgmann, Heresh Fattahi +4 · 1 voice · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · #Geophysical Methods and Applications #Seismic Waves and Analysis #earthquake and tectonic studies

paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/2015gl063575

openalex publication_date 2015/04/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Abstract The Hayward and Calaveras Faults, two strike‐slip faults of the San Andreas System located in the East San Francisco Bay Area, are commonly considered independent structures for seismic hazard assessment. We use Interferometric Synthetic Aperture RADAR to show that surface creep on the Hayward Fault continues 15 km farther south than previously known, revealing new potential for rupture and damage south of Fremont. The extended trace of the Hayward Fault, also illuminated by shallow repeating micro‐earthquakes, documents a surface connection with the Calaveras Fault. At depths greater than 3–5 km, repeating micro‐earthquakes located 10 km north of the surface connection highlight the 3‐D wedge geometry of the junction. Our new model of the Hayward and Calaveras Faults argues that they should be treated as a single system with potential for earthquake ruptures generating events with magnitudes greater than 7, posing a higher seismic hazard to the East San Francisco Bay Area than previously considered.

Cited by

Discussions

Related