The Bay Area’s Chico Enterprise Record has a wonderful writeup of a USGS-produced “virtual helicopter ride” along the length of the Hayward Fault, near San Francisco.
This is a fascinating Google Earth file, and not just because it’s annotated with closeup pictures. The Hayward Fault is also due for an Earthquake, so it’s perhaps best to get to know it now:
“The Hayward Fault is locked and loaded,” said USGS seismologist Tom Brocher. “It is ready to fire at any time.”
Impatient types can get at the KMZ file directly from this USGS site. The data is also available natively for ArcGIS.
“The Bay Area’s Chico Enterprise Record…”
Chico is not in the Bay Area.
Wow… this is amazing. I definitely have to visit the Hayward Fault before I die. And yeah, my real name is Hayward. I just love seismology. =)