Sierra Nevada Fault

The Sierra Nevada Fault is a normal (vertical motion) seismic fault along the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada mountain block in California. It also demarcates the western margin of the Basin and Range geologic province. Activity on this fault is responsible for the continuing uplift of the Sierra Nevada. However, no large earthquake has occurred on the fault in recorded history. The largest earthquake in its vicinity was on the adjacent Owens Valley Fault in 1872, known as the Lone Pine Earthquake, which has been estimated as having had a 7.8 magnitude.

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