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Science 14 May 1993:
Vol. 260. no. 5110, pp. 973 - 976
DOI: 10.1126/science.260.5110.973
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Articles

Interaction of the San Jacinto and San Andreas Fault Zones, Southern California: Triggered Earthquake Migration and Coupled Recurrence Intervals

Christopher O. Sanders 1

1 Department of Geology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404

Two lines of evidence suggest that large earthquakes that occur on either the San Jacinto fault zone (SJFZ) or the San Andreas fault zone (SAFZ) may be triggered by large earthquakes that occur on the other. First, the great 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake in the SAFZ seems to have triggered a progressive sequence of earthquakes in the SJFZ. These earthquakes occurred at times and locations that are consistent with triggering by a strain pulse that propagated southeastward at a rate of 1.7 kilometers per year along the SJFZ after the 1857 earthquake. Second, the similarity in average recurrence intervals in the SJFZ (about 150 years) and in the Mojave segment of the SAFZ (132 years) suggests that large earthquakes in the northern SJFZ may stimulate the relatively frequent major earthquakes on the Mojave segment. Analysis of historic earthquake occurrence in the SJFZ suggests little likelihood of extended quiescence between earthquake sequences.

Submitted on October 13, 1992
Accepted on February 9, 1993


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Estimating Locations and Magnitudes of Earthquakes in Southern California from Modified Mercalli Intensities.
W. H. Bakun (2006)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 96, 1278-1295
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Geophysical and isotopic mapping of preexisting crustal structures that influenced the location and development of the San Jacinto fault zone, southern California.
V.E. Langenheim, R.C. Jachens, D.M. Morton, R.W. Kistler, and J.C. Matti (2004)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 116, 1143-1157
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Viscosity of Oceanic Asthenosphere Inferred from Remote Triggering of Earthquakes.
F. F. Pollitz, R. Bürgmann, and B. Romanowicz (1998)
Science 280, 1245-1249
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Static stress changes and the triggering of earthquakes.
G. C. P. King, R. S. Stein, and J. Lin (1994)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 84, 935-953
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