17: The San Andreas Fault

The San Andreas Fault is a major crack in the earth's crust. It runs 1050km through Southern California. In this area there is a high risk of earthquakes.		The plates can slip past each other anywhere. The San Andreas Fault is a boundary between two plates. This increases the chance of earthquakes.
In the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, 490 blocks of the city were destroyed, more than 500 lives were lost and over 3000 acres were obliterated. The earthquake hit the gas mains. Fire did more damage than the actual earthquake.	Over 15 million years, California has moved about 300km. In a further 15 million years it might break away from mainland America.	Scientists predict that an earthquake now would be even more terrible. The destruction of the city of San Francisco would cause around 23 thousand deaths and billions of dollars worth of damage.

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