Historical Earthquakes

2014 South Napa | 1989 Loma Prieta
1906 San Francisco | 1868 Hayward

1868 M7.0 San Francisco Earthquake

Known as the "great San Francisco earthquake" until 1906, one of California's most destructive earthquakes occurred on October 21, 1868, resulting from slip on the Hayward Fault. Heavy damage occurred in communities situated along the fault and in San Francisco and San Jose. Learn more...

1906 M7.9 San Francisco Earthquake

The California earthquake of April 18, 1906, ranks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time. Today, its importance comes more from the wealth of scientific knowledge derived from it than from its sheer size. Rupturing the northernmost 430 km of the San Andreas fault from northwest San Juan Bautista to the triple junction of Cape Mendocino, the earthquake confounded contemporary geologists with its large, horizontal displacements and great rupture length. Learn more...

1989 M6.9 Loma Prieta Earthquake

The first major event to occur along the San Andreas fault zone since the 1906 earthquake. The Loma Prieta earthquake ruptured the southernmost 40 km of the 1906 break, in comparable amounts of right-lateral strike slip and reverse slip motion. The average strike-slip displacement was 1.2 meters while the average reverse-slip displacement was 1.6 meters. Learn more...

2014 M6.0 South Napa Earthquake

Tens of thousands of Bay Area residents woke up to rumbling at 3:20am (PT) on August 24th, 2014. The strongest earthquake in the Bay Area since the Loma Prieta Quake of 1989 made its way through the City of Napa and Sonoma Counties.

Stones on floor from face of building after 2014 Napa Quake
Shaking was noticed as far south as Fresno and as far north as Chico. The epicenter of this magnitude 6.0 earthquake lay halfway between Napa and Vallejo. The earthquake had an unusually large surface rupture of 8 miles and up to 18 inches of surface slip. Learn more...