Rose Canyon Fault
Encyclopedia
Rose Canyon Fault is a right-lateral strike-slip fault running in a north-south direction through San Diego. About 30 km (19 mi) in length it starts in the Mission Valley area and heads, past Mt. Soledad and La Jolla, into the Pacific ocean where it joins other faults, such as the Oceanside Fault. Not much is known about this fault at present, though its slip-rate is thought to be 1.1 mm/yr. The Rose Canyon Fault has recently garnered more attention because it runs through such highly-populated areas, but is not thought to be much of a threat. However, geophysicists
, such as San Diego local, Jeff Babcock, have hypothesized that a concentrated earthquake
involving the Rose Canyon, Oceanside, and Newport-Inglewood faults could result in up to a magnitude 7.6 earthquake on the moment magnitude scale
.
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
, such as San Diego local, Jeff Babcock, have hypothesized that a concentrated earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
involving the Rose Canyon, Oceanside, and Newport-Inglewood faults could result in up to a magnitude 7.6 earthquake on the moment magnitude scale
Moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...
.