Seismic History in the San Joaquin Valley

Abstract

The part of Kern County most affected by the earthquakes of 1952 has been shaken in the past about as hard and as frequently as most sections of California. Geologists and seismologists examining the historical record have attributed most of this disturbance to the great faults marginal to the area-the San Andreas fault, the Garlock fault, and the major Sierra Nevada fault. Instrumental records of recent years, in this area as in others, show that minor shocks originate at points rather generally peppered over the map, and only the larger shocks can be taken as related to the principal faults. Geological field evidence, in agreement with the imperfect historical record, indicates that no great earthquake is likely to have originated on the western part of the Garlock fault in historical time.

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