The Whittier Fault is a geologic fault located in eastern Los Angeles County in Southern California, that is one of the two upper branches of the Elsinore Fault Zone, with the Chino Fault the second.
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The Whittier Fault is a 40-kilometer (25 mi) right-lateral strike-slip fault that runs along the Chino Hills range between the cities of Chino Hills and Whittier. The fault has a slip rate of 2.5 to 3.0 millimeters (0.098 to 0.12 in) per year. It is estimated that this fault could generate a quake of MW6.0–7.2 on the moment magnitude scale.
In 1987, the Whittier Narrows earthquake sequence occurred, with two large earthquakes, a 5.9 and a 5.3, happening within 3 days. No surface rupture happened during the quake, but there has been surface rupture on this fault within the last 10,000 years. The quakes caused US$350 million in damages.
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