Elsinore Fault Zone

California Coast, Los Angeles to San Diego Bay. Elsinore Fault Zone is labeled in the center running along the Santa Ana Mountains. NASA photo, 2008

The Elsinore Fault Zone is a large right-lateral strike-slip geological fault structure in Southern California. The fault is part of the trilateral split of the San Andreas fault system and is one of the largest, though quietest faults in Southern California.^[1]^[2]

Fault characteristics

The Elsinore fault zone, not including Whittier, Chino, and Laguna Salada faults, is 180 kilometers (110 mi) long with a slip-rate of 4.0 millimeters/year (0.15 in/yr). It is estimated that this zone is capable of producing a quake of 6.5–7.5 M_W. The projected interval between major rupture events is 250 years.

The last major rupture event on the main Elsinore fault was in 1910 with a 6 M_W earthquake centered just northwest of the city of Lake Elsinore.^[3]

Fault segments and geography

The fault runs from the mountainous Peninsular Ranges region between El Centro and San Diego, northwest to the Chino Hills range and Chino Hills. On the southern end of the fault zone is the southeastern extension of the Elsinore fault zone, the Laguna Salada Fault. At its northern end, the Elsinore fault zone splits into two segments, the Chino Fault and the Whittier Fault. In the Elsinore Trough, the Elsinore fault zone creates four graben rift valleys between the Santa Ana Mountain Block and the Perris Block: the Temescal Valley, the Elsinore Valley with its large sag pond of Lake Elsinore and the Temecula Valley and Wolf Valley. In the Elsinore Trough the fault zone is split into pairs of parallel strands with the Glen Ivy North Fault and Lee Lake Fault forming the first valley, the Glen Ivy South Fault and Willard Faults the second and the Willard and Wildomar Faults the last two valleys to the southeast.^[4]^[5]^[2]

References

↑ "THE SAN ANDREAS FAULT SYSTEM". SDSU.edu. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
1 2 "Elsinore Fault Zone". Southern California Earthquake Data Center. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
↑ "Elsinore Earthquake". Southern California Earthquake Data Center. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
↑ Rene Engel, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE LAKE ELSINORE QUADRANGLE CALIFORNIA, CAIIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, BULLETIN 146, DIVISION OF MINES, SAN FRANCISCO, 1959, pp. 14, 55-51.
↑ Robert A. Larson, James E. Slosson editors, Storm-Induced Geologic Hazards: Case Histories from the 1992-1993 Winter in Southern California and Arizona, Volume 11, Geological Society of America, January 1, 1997, p.50, Fig. 1

Seismically active fault zones and tectonic blocks of California

Statewide Faults	San Andreas Fault

Faults, zones, and blocks of Southern California	Brawley Seismic Zone Chino Fault Elsinore Fault Zone Elysian Park Fault Garlock Fault Hosgri Fault Imperial Fault Zone Laguna Salada Fault Newport–Inglewood Fault Peninsular Ranges Puente Hills Fault Raymond Fault Rose Canyon Fault Salton Trough Salinian Block San Cayetano Fault San Felipe Fault Zone San Gabriel Fault San Jacinto Fault Zone Santa Maria River Fault Santa Ynez Fault Shoreline Fault Ventura Fault White Wolf Fault Whittier Fault Yorba Linda Fault

Faults and zones of Northern California	Bartlett Springs Fault Calaveras Fault Clayton-Marsh Creek-Greenville Fault Concord Fault Hayward Fault Zone Healdsburg Fault Maacama Fault Mendocino Fracture Zone Mendocino Triple Junction Mount Diablo Thrust Fault Monta Vista Fault Pleasanton Fault San Gregorio Fault San Pablo Fault Seal Cove Fault Serra Fault Silver Creek Fault Tesla Fault West Napa Fault

Sierra Nevada faults, zones, and blocks	Death Valley Fault Zone Furnace Creek Fault Zone Honey Lake Fault Zone Kern Canyon Fault Maria fold and thrust belt Owens Valley Fault Rescue Lineament-Bear Mountains fault zone Sierra Nevada Batholith Sierra Nevada Fault Sierra Nevada-Great Valley Block Smartville Block Walker Lane

Category California Geological Survey Seismic Hazards Mapping Act Mexico (list)

Significant seismically active faults of North America

North America
(crosses national borders)

Alaska-Aleutian megathrust (US-RU)
Basin and Range Province (US-MX)
Cascadia subduction zone (US-CA)
Clarendon-Linden fault system (US-CA)
Denali Fault (US-CA)
Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province (CA-US)
Puget Sound faults (US-CA)
Rio Grande rift (US-MX)
San Andreas Fault (US-MX)
Southern Great Lakes Seismic Zone (US-CA)
Tintina Fault (US-CA)

Canada

United States

Washington and Oregon	Brothers Fault Zone Olympic-Wallowa Lineament Puget Sound (Seattle Fault, Tacoma Fault) Walker Lane

California	Calaveras Fault Garlock Fault Hayward Fault Zone Mendocino Fracture Zone Newport–Inglewood Fault Puente Hills Fault Rose Canyon Fault San Jacinto Fault Zone (Elsinore Fault Zone)

Great Basin	Independence Valley fault system Moab Fault Teton Fault Wasatch Fault

Great Plains	Central Oklahoma Fault Zone Humboldt Fault Long Point–Eureka Heights fault system Nemaha Fault Zone Wilzetta Fault

Midwest	Marianna Fault New Madrid Seismic Zone Sandwich Fault Zone Wabash Valley Seismic Zone

Appalachian Mountains and Atlantic Coast	Aiken-Augusta Fault Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone Middleton Place-Summerville Seismic Zone (Woodstock Fault) Northern Appalachians Seismic Zone Ramapo Fault Virginia Seismic Zone

Caribbean & Mexico

Cayman Trough
Chixoy-Polochic Fault
Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone (Cuba)
Gulf of California Rift Zone
Lesser Antilles subduction zone
Middle America Trench (Central America)
Motagua Fault (Central America)
Pedro Miguel Fault
Puerto Rico Trench

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