The San Andreas Fault for Dummies

San Andreas fault trace

If you were to mention "earthquake faults"¹ to most people in North America, the natural response would be to mention the San Andreas Fault. It is, after all, the most famous of faults in the United States (although probably not in the world: that might be the Zagros Fault Belt). Given that level of fame, it's no wonder that a half-fast freelancer like Hassam, one with a history of writing dumbassery about earthquakes. would decide to tell all his HubPages.com readers about "The San Andreas Fault Line."

There's a wealth of information out there about the San Andreas Fault², some of which Hassam attempted to reword. Perhaps because English is not his first language and perhaps because he's ignorant, the guy made some mistakes...

"The San Andreas Fault line divides California into two from Cape Mendocino to the Mexican border."

Sorry, Hassam, but you'd be hard-pressed to see that "division" on the ground...

"...the San Andreas Fault line is believed to be the most dangerous than all the others. Probably because the plates along the San Andreas move on [sic] the sideways instead of the conventional movement of one plate up and other down just like along other fault lines of the world."

More dangerous because it moves "sideways"? No, because the fault's multitude of strands and splays run within a few miles or even through major cities. In fact, the most powerful recorded earthquake on the San Andreas was the 1906 San Francisco earthquake at magnitude 7.9; by comparison the 1964 Alaska earthquake reached magnitude 9.2

"The famous San Francisco earthquake of 1906 has caused the most damage to the segment. Although the earthquakes of 1957 and 1989 caused damage to the segment, but since their magnitude was not as big as that 1906 earthquake, the damage caused is much less."

Hassam ignores the changes in building codes and construction techniques initiated after the 1906 quake. Once that's out of the way, the guy goes bonkers with spun content such as,

1. "Fault lines are the lines that blot a frontier flanked by two tectonic tableware of the Earth's coating. In places where earthquakes frequently occur."
2. "An earthquake happens due to the tension put on the ground by the tectonic plates."
3. "There are three valid reasons based on the new emerging geophysical conditions of earth that make us conclude that mother earth has entered the difficult period of six years from 2007 to 2012."
4. "There is no doubt that one of the greatest earthquakes ever have been caused along the Fault line of San Andreas which has caused cracks and furrows on the land."

To which the geological staff replies,

1. Whaaaaa???
2. Some faults are tensional, some are compressional. The San Andreas is neither: it's a transform (strike-slip) fault.
3. Looks like Hassam missed that prediction, doesn't it.
4. Not really... the greatest earthquakes in history are mostly associated with subduction zones, although the New Madrid Fault (site of the largest known quake in the lower 48) is a rift.

So it looks as though Hassam is about to collect his sixth Dumbass of the Day award, his fourth about geology. Maybe he should try a different science...

¹ We consider the construction "earthquake fault" to be redundant, not to mention just plain dumb.
² The San Andreas is actually a zone of anastomosing fault planes, not a "line": it's often miles wide and reaches to the bottom of the lithosphere.

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