Hi John,

Some years ago a series of detonations were done on the Rodgers Creek Fault (which lies due east of me by about 2 miles) and they remarked that unlike other faults where the seismic waves travel in a circle away from the fault, this fault system recorded the energy going up and down like a "hot dog." There seemed to be some significance associated with this type of arrangement and I wonder if you could elaborate on this.

The Rodgers Creek Fault is not exactly what it appears on the maps, looking like a straight line configuration, however, it twists and turns and is not straight. I would say one would view it as a fault system, being miles wide. On the eastern side it breaks into multiple small fingerling faults which from time to time deliver small to moderate quakes.

The City of Santa Rosa has almost all of its major metropolitan buildings right on top of it as well as all of the hospitals. Sitting on top of it with an allevial plain adjacent gives one a true understanding of why it was nearly demolished in the 1906 quake. It faired out worse than any other city in the Bay Area. But they haven't had any 5's since the twin 10/69 quakes.

So, if you could provide me with a better understanding of the detonation test results I would appreciate a learned point of view.

Thanks....Petra (waiting to Wahoo)