San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a 1,300 kilometer fracture in the Earth’s crust and is a complex zone of broken and crushed rock that extends at least 10 miles into the Earth. The fault is a boundary between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates, and it cuts California in half from Cape Mendocino to the Mexican border. The San Andreas Fault has three zones: Northern, Central, Southern, each with different characteristics and earthquake risks. The southern section, from the Salton Sea to Parkfield, California, is historically the quietest.
- It is the most active fault in California and one of the most studied faults on the planet.
- The San Andreas fault is a strike-slip fault, which means the two sides move horizontally and parallel to the fault and each other.
- The fault is about 28 million years old, and California didn’t exist at the time.
- The San Andreas Fault is unique because it’s a transform boundary on land, while most plate boundaries are in the ocean.
- The fault can be seen from space that appears as a valley where the plates meet.
- San Francisco lies directly on the San Andreas Fault and other cities include Los Angeles, Palmdale, Palm Springs.
Top 10 Most Active Earthquake Zones in The World
List of Top 10 Most Active Earthquake Zones: The Top 10 Most Active Earthquake Zones are Pacific Ring of Fire, Himalayan Region, Alpide Belt, East African Rift, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Anatolian Fault Zone, San Andreas Fault, Japan Trench, Tonga Trench, and Java Trench. Pacific Ring of Fire also known as the “Ring of Fire”, is the world’s greatest earthquake and volcanic-prone zone. It accounts for 81 percent of recorded earthquakes in the world.
Earthquakes are the abrupt shaking of the earth’s surface by the sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust, resulting in seismic waves. It occurs due to the movement of tectonic plates beneath the Earth’s surface. The point where the energy is released is called the earthquake’s focus, and the point directly above it on the Earth’s surface is the epicenter.
In this article, we will look into the List of the Top 10 Most Active Earthquake Zones in the world. We will also discuss the location and characteristics of these active Earthquake Zones.
Table of Content
- Earthquake
- List of Top 10 Most Active Earthquake Zones
- Pacific Ring of Fire
- Himalayan Region
- Alpide Belt
- East African Rift
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge
- Anatolian Fault Zone
- San Andreas Fault
- Japan Trench
- Tonga Trench
- Java Trench