From: shafer@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer)
Subject: Re: survey benchmarks
Organization: NASA Dryden, Edwards, Cal.
	<50978@seismo.CSS.GOV> <1992Jul21.162658.9112@qualcomm.com>
	<131052@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> <1992Jul22.165034.4168@pony.Ingres.COM>
Distribution: ca
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 04:13:29 GMT

On 22 Jul 92 16:50:34 GMT, thall@Ingres.COM (Trevor Hall) said:

Trevor> In article <131052@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> hauk@s24.es.llnl.gov (Terri Hauk  423-7332) writes:
>Since the Alquist-Priolo Special Studies Zone Act took effect in 1981, no
>building is allowed within 500 feet of an active fault trace. There are
>neighborhoods in Union City, I know, that leave a 'green corridor' along the
>trace of the Hayward fault through residential areas. 
> 

Trevor> Does this apply to all buildings in California?  There's a new housing
Trevor> development in Milpitas (c1990), with about a dozen homes seemingly
Trevor> right on top of the southern Hayward fault.  I'm not sure of the
Trevor> exact trace of the Hayward through Milpitas, but if you look up at
Trevor> the hillside, just east of 680 between Calaveras and Scott Creek,
Trevor> you can see a definite slump area.  There's also some stream traces
Trevor> that take fairly severe jogs along that same line.

Trevor> In any case, this housing development is built right along the slump.
Trevor> I guess the developer thought that the level area created by the slumping
Trevor> made a nice place to build houses...

They're building houses (not vulgar little tract houses, but big fancy
custom houses) all over the surface manifestation of the San Andreas
fault just south of Palmdale (Avenue S, in particular).  There's a
nice little sag valley, with a string of sag ponds (Lake Elizabeth,
etc) and this seems to be the fastest-growing part of Palmdale.

Even if they're not damaged in the quake, they're going to be washed
away when the aqueduct (running parallel to the fault) sloshes all its
water out.

We were looking at Sheltie puppies a couple of years ago and visited a
breeder living in one of these houses.  We asked her where the fault
was and she said that it ran through her lot, with the corner of the
slab being a couple of feet from it.  This house was about four years
old at the time, so it was built six years ago.

Me, I live about ten miles from the fault, on 1-1/2 to 2 mile deep old
alluvium.  We just built a 10'x12' shed in the backyard to live in
during the aftershocks.  That way, we won't have to sleep out in the
open, like we saw so many folks doing after the Whittier Narrows
quake.  The shed is full of water and food and bedding and everything
else we'll need to survive for a couple of weeks until they remember
that the Antelope Valley is up here.  (We didn't get Shelties, we got
regular collies--increasing the amount of food and water we need to
store.)  Our neighbors laughed when we put it in, but a couple of them
have dropped by to look at it and there are some more sheds going in
around us.  ("One person does it and they'll think you're crazy, ... a
whole lot of people do it and they'll think it's a movement...." A
Guthrie)

--
Mary Shafer  DoD #0362 KotFR NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA
shafer@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov                    Of course I don't speak for NASA
 "A MiG at your six is better than no MiG at all."  Unknown US fighter pilot