Geology Picture of the Day - Fault Scarp

In 1872, an earthquake stuck near the town of Lone Pine, California located in the Owens Valley. It was believed to have been about a M7.8 event. The earthquake destroyed most of the buildings in the town and killed 27 people. The fault scarp from the event is still visible today, just east of the town.

Image Credit: erika_amir on flickr.

This is a fascinating spot, and pretty impressive when you can see in person how much movement one event can cause. And thousands of these events helped to create the Sierra Nevada mountains a short distance away.

The USGS has a geologic map (warning, PDF file) of the Lone Pine Quadrangle as well. More information about the map is located here.

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