The Laguna Salada Fault is a geological fault between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. About long, it straddles the Imperial County-

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

–

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

border.

Earthquakes

1892

According to some

seismologists Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

the 1892 Laguna Salada earthquake ranks among the largest earthquakes in California and Baja California in historic times. It occurred on 23 February 1892, and was centered near Laguna Salada in Baja California.

2010

The Laguna Salada Fault is thought to be the origin of the 2010 Baja California earthquake. Prior to this, the fault had not produced a major earthquake for over 100 years, since 1892.

Faults

The Laguna Salada Fault is a probable southern continuation of the

Elsinore Fault Zone The Elsinore Fault Zone is a large right-lateral strike-slip geological fault structure in Southern California. The fault is part of the trilateral split of the San Andreas fault system and is one of the largest, though quietest faults in Souther ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. These faults are considered to be secondary cohorts of the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is right-lateral strike-slip (horizonta ...

, and as such share some of the strike-slip motion between the

North American Plate The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacif ...

and the Pacific Plate.Caltech
/ref>

References

Seismic faults of California Seismic faults of Mexico Strike-slip faults Geology of Imperial County, California Geography of Baja California Geography of Imperial County, California Natural history of Baja California El Centro metropolitan area Mexicali Municipality {{Tectonics-stub