Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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The Hayward Fault is California's most dangerous, and also its creepiest. But that's because it creeps along at a constant rate of 5 mm/yr in between major earthquakes!
The Hayward Fault is the second largest fault in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it stretches over 110 kilometers through the densely populated East Bay region. Because of the dense population and amount of critical infrastructure surrounding it, the Hayward Fault is probably the most dangerous in the country as well. The hazard is not what brought me to Fremont's Central Park though. This park displays some of the best examples of active fault aseismic creep - fault motion without earthquakes - anywhere on the continent. The fault has cut through and offset streets, sidewalks, and buildings all along its length and these are famously and best shown on the patio of the Fremont Community Center.
NOTE: The community center building was closed when we went, but if you are able to visit the inside there is a great exhibit about aseismic creep and earthquake science which features the huge cracks in the building's foundation!
*** Was this video interesting? Buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/bettergeology ***
The Hayward Fault is California's most dangerous, and also its creepiest. But that's because it creeps along at a constant rate of 5 mm/yr in between major earthquakes!
The Hayward Fault is the second largest fault in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it stretches over 110 kilometers through the densely populated East Bay region. Because of the dense population and amount of critical infrastructure surrounding it, the Hayward Fault is probably the most dangerous in the country as well. The hazard is not what brought me to Fremont's Central Park though. This park displays some of the best examples of active fault aseismic creep - fault motion without earthquakes - anywhere on the continent. The fault has cut through and offset streets, sidewalks, and buildings all along its length and these are famously and best shown on the patio of the Fremont Community Center.
NOTE: The community center building was closed when we went, but if you are able to visit the inside there is a great exhibit about aseismic creep and earthquake science which features the huge cracks in the building's foundation!
![Geology of the Alvord Desert | Oregon Geology - 4K [CC]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xYUxSZgL1p8/mqdefault.jpg "Geology of the Alvord Desert | Oregon Geology - 4K [CC]
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The Alvord Desert is Oregons largest dry lake bed, and it is at the center of a fascinating geologic story. It sits in the shadow of Steens Mountain, one of Oregons highest mountains which towers more than 5,000 feet above the lake bed and creates the rain shadow needed to maintain Alvords desert-like conditions. Steens Mountain was uplifted over the past 10 million years along the Steens Fault, and more than 3,000 meters of total offset has occurred in that time. Alvord Desert filled the graben that that fault system created. Above Alvord Desert in Pike Creek, older volcanic rocks can be seen which reflect an interesting volcanic environment which produced highly-evolved rhyolite lava shortly before the massive outpouring of the Steens Basalts (part of the Columbia River Basalt Group) blanketed Oregon. These older volcanic rocks of the Pike Creek Volcanics also contain some of Oregons few uranium mines. Uranium was concentrated in old fault zones, and the presence of heavy metals shows that the Steens Fault extends very deep into the Earth. This deep structure is also what allows the numerous hot springs (Alvord Hot Springs, Mickey Hot Springs, and Borax Lake) to reach the surface.
This video was filmed by and with camera gear provided by Riley Hooper, who can be found over at Wogos Media.
The data for the Columbia River Basalt dikes is from Morriss et al, 2020 paper The Chief Joseph dike swarm of the Columbia River flood basalts, and the legacy data set of William H. Taubeneck published in Geosphere. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES02173.1")
