Ventura Fault also Ventura-Pitas Point Fault is an offshore and onshore fault system of Southern California, beginning around Santa Barbara coming onshore in Ventura with an eastward heading, its extension is unknown but presumed to head for

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

. It is among a network of faults in the area, potentially connecting to

San Cayetano Fault The San Cayetano Fault is an east-west trending thrust fault in Ventura County, Southern California. It stretches for , north of the city of Ventura, near the Topatopa Mountains, Piru, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Sulphur Springs, and Ojai. Geology ...

, Lion Fault, and Red Mountain Fault (the latter offshore).

Tsunami potential

California Geological Survey researchers have reported that the fault is capable of an 8.0 earthquake, along with

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

affecting Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Santa Monica. A big earthquake on the fault estimated to occur every 400 to 2,400 years, the last being about 800 years ago. Pitas Point and Punta Gorda areas were "yanked out of the surf zone by large uplift events," growing between 16 feet to 26 feet suddenly.

References

Seismic faults of California Geology of Ventura County, California Plate tectonics {{California-geologic-formation-stub