Hi John. I have to agree with you to a certain degree. A fault for the most part does lock at a specific point and not the whole length of the rupture. The area of the epicenter of the quake is locked, but the surrounding area continues to move. That is the area above; below, to the front and rear and to the sides continue to move. It is my feeling that the length of the rupture depends on how long the fault at a given point has been locked and how much movement surrounding that point has taken place during that time.

When the dilational strain meter (Echo Valley) in the San Juan Bautista area was working I saw a build up of strain on 7 different occasions. In each case the quake was more then just a few meters from where the strain build up was seen. It was on the order of miles. The only other location I saw this happen was in Parkfield and that has only been once. I have seen tensor strain with 2 quakes in the Parkfield area. I have also seen a couple of quakes in the Parkfield area in which there was no indication of any kind. As for the Bay Area. Lets just say I batting a 1000 there. I haven’t gotten one correct yet. I have learned that what works in one location doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work at another location.

As for the Palmdale bulge. My feeling is that it was a case of operator error. However that is an issue that to this day continues to be debated. Take Care…Don in creepy town