EarthRef.org Digital Archive (ERDA) -- Earthquake Lesson: Southern California Faults

Description
This activity teaches students about a specific fault in southern California, including what type of motion occurs on the fault and what size earthquake it is likely capable of producing. The San Andreas Fault, San Jacinto Fault, and Elsinore Fault are included; other faults could be easily incorporated when geographically relevant to the classroom.

Instructions
Students will work in groups to read a brief overview about a specific fault and answer questions from the provided material. Students learn details about one fault, including what size earthquake it is likely capable of having and when the last major rupture occurred. The final question asks them to consider if residents of southern California should be concerned about the possibility of a major earthquake occurring on this fault during their lifetimes.

Students may need assistance with the opening questions about the cardinal directions, relating the length of the fault to distances between major cities, drawing the direction of motion on the map, and determining the percentage of total plate boundary motion in southern California that occurs on this fault. If there is additional class time available, student groups could present what they have learned to the class to teach their classmates about each fault.

We have included the San Andreas Fault, the San Jacinto Fault, and the Elsinore Fault as options; this worksheet could be slightly modified to use any set of faults for which information is easily available.

Supplementary Materials: This activity uses an interactive map and related materials from the Southern California Earthquake Center website. These materials are included as screenshots to be printed out for class use, but could also be used interactively in a computer lab.