California Week 6 Los Angeles

Hello Class,

I travelled to California to get some help in how to understand geology and how rocks forms over long periods of time. I decided to investigate the faults that surround the Loa Angeles area. As we know the city is always busy, producing movies, being a tech giant, and provided homes for families. The city itself is surrounded by multiple fault lines and for that we need to understand a little as to why these earthquakes happen.  

My first question is how prepared is Los Angeles to minimizing earthquake damage from multiple faults? There is a total of roughly 6 faults around the city itself and of course the San Andreas fault not too far off along with the Raymond fault to the North.  I would like to understand the safety designed into these facilities and how we can prevent mass collateral damage. The second question is what kind of rocks that surround the city and how can we determine their age? Well according to the geologic map we can see there is a deposit of Mirocene sandstone and mix of terrace deposit and alluvium. These arrived through deposits from the sea and due to millions of years of moving through these earthquakes. If we can find key items such as fossils or even seeing a cross-section, we can determine the age. My third and final question is how Los Angeles can prevent a possible “sinking”. With being surrounded by multiple faults the city itself is deemed in being placed in a hazard zone for seismic activity. These active fault line could cause the city to shift and irritate the foundation for which it stands on.

Reference:

 California Geologic Map. (2010). Received From: http://www.sanandreasfault.org/CaGeo.html

Geologic Map of California. (2015). Received From: https://maps.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/gmc/