A bird’s-eye view of Dragon’s Back Ridge, where the San Andreas Fault draws its unmistakable line across the arid valley floor. This segment of the fault last ruptured in 1857, resulting in an estimated M7.9 earthquake. It continues to gather strain at a rate of over an inch per year. In the time since the 1857 Fort Tejon Earthquake, we can infer that roughly 17—18 feet of accumulated offset is being stored in the crust until some or all of it is released within seconds in a future earthquake. |