California Department of Transportation
 

1996 State Hazard Map
 

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is responsible for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of State Bridges and related structures for California's transportation system. Earthquakes are prime considerations in the design and retrofit of structures. The Office of Earthquake Engineering is responsibilty to define the seismic hazard for Caltrans' projects.  It is the current policy of Caltrans to utilize the anticipated Maximum Credible Earthquake (MCE) from young faults in and near California to define the Safety evaluation event for design. The MCE is defined as the largest earthquake which can be expected to occur on a fault in the current tectonic regime. 
Following the 1971 San Fernando earthquake Caltrans instituted an effort to a develop hazard maps for California to effectively incorporate seismic effects into the design process. This 1996 version of our hazard map is the latest map.  The map incorporates the ideas and opinions from seismologists, geologists and other earth sciences experts . 

Features The 1996 map was developed using GIS technology ESRI's ArcInfo (and made available through ArcView).  The length, dip, strike and depth of the fault is considered in the development of the map.  The 1996 map incorporates 273 faults in and adjacent to California.  On the map, contours of peak bedrock acceleration are presented from 0.1 to 0.7g. The map also shows the State Highway system and county boundaries.

Comments & Suggestions This map is (and always was) dynamic in nature. As new information becomes available, it will be updated. Comments and suggestions should be directed to: 

     Martha Merriam
     Tel: (916) 227-7135
     Email: martha_merriam@dot.ca.gov

Errata - A new map is in process, please note these changes which are NOT incorporated in the existing map. For the most current information, contact Martha Merriam at (916) 227-7135, or martha_merriam@dot.ca.gov:

  1. Forest Hill-Melones (FHM) fault is no longer used.
  2. Gillis Mountain (GMT) fault is no longer used.
  3. Three letter code for Southampton is STT (not SHP).
  4. West Napa (WNP) fault is wrongly coded in the map as MNA.
  5. The bifurcated northeastern section of the Pisgah-Bullion fault that ruptured during the October 16, 1999 Hector Mine earthquake in San Bernardino County is currently under investigation by the Office of Eathquake Engineering.
  6. Three letter code for the southern branch of the San Andreas is SAS (not SAE), and its MCE moment magnitude is 7-3/4 (wrongly labelled as 6 in the map).
  7. Another three letter code (SAE) with MCE moment magnitude 6 for the southern segment of central San Andreas (SAC) is no longer used as a separate fault; it is part of SAC with MCE moment magnitude 8.
  8. For accurate locations of the Santa Maria-Foxen Canyon (SMF) and Oceano (OCO) faults in the San Luis Obispo region, contact John Duffy at John_D_Duffy@dot.ca.gov
  9. An unnamed fault near Shasta Dam in Shasta County is currently under investigation by the Office of Eathquake Engineering.
  10. The San Joaquin Hills fault in Orange County is currently under investigation by the Office of Eathquake Engineering.
  11. The Puente Hills Fault in Los Angeles is currently under investigation by the Office of Earthquake Engineering (03/15/06)
  12. The Pacific Star Fault near Fort Bragg is currently under investigation by the Office of Earthquake Engineering (5/8/06).

Ordering Copies of the 1996 Map: Copies of the map (in black and white) along with the 64 page documentation report can be obtained by contacting:
     California Department of Transportation
    Publications Distribution Unit
     1900 Royal Oaks Drive
     Sacramento, CA 95815-3800
Please specify that you want the California Seismic Hazard Map 1996 and include $25.00 (U.S.) for each package (map and documentation report). The Publications Unit does not accept purchase orders. Checks should be made out to Caltrans . Orders may be made to Visa or MasterCard by calling (916) 445-3520 and Pressing #2.
Disclaimer: This map was developed solely for the use of Caltrans to be used with their criteria and specifications. Caltrans is not responsible for any uses made of this map outside of Caltrans projects.
Downloads: You can download the 1996 California Hazard Map and the  Map Report. The Map is a full color, 36 inches wide, 44 inches tall, and the size of the file is about 2.4MB. The map is designed to be printed on a plotter . 

Note: The IE6 browser requires the latest version of Acrobat Reader to open PDF files directly within the browser. If you do not have the latest Acrobat Reader and are using IE6, you will have to download the PDF file and open it locally on your machine.

Map Report (PDF) Map (PDF2.4MB)
Page last updated 5/08/2006

 

 


 

 

Our Mailing Address

California Department of Transportation
Division of Engineering Services
Office of Earthquake Engineering 
P.O. Box 168041, MS 9 2/5I
Sacramento, California 95816-8041