page_title: Seismic gap
section_title: Examples
hierarchical_section_title: Seismic gap / Examples
caption_attribution_description: English: Seismicity along the San Andreas fault before and after the Loma Prieta earthquake
context_page_description: A seismic gap is a segment of an active fault known to produce significant earthquakes that has not slipped in an unusually long time, compared with other segments along the same structure. There is a hypothesis or theory that states that over long periods of time, the displacement on any segment must be equal to that experienced by all the other parts of the fault. Any large and longstanding gap is, therefore, considered to be the fault segment most likely to suffer future earthquakes.
  The applicability of this approach has been criticised by some seismologists although earthquakes sometimes have occurred in previously-identified seismic gaps.
caption: Cross sections along the San Andreas fault showing recorded seismic activity A) 20 years before the Loma Prieta event, B) The main shock (large circle) and aftershocks for the Loma Prieta event, USGS Circular 1045
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