Hi Jan. It seems that geologist have a lot on their minds with the recent quake activity in the Santa Rosa area.

By CAROL BENFELL
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Sunday's 05/25/2003 earthquake is drawing new focus to Sonoma County's multiple, complex fault zones and raising fresh concern about the vulnerability of the 150,000 people who live in Santa Rosa.

Geologists now say they worry, not just for those who live along fault lines, but for those who live in three highly developed, highly unstable areas -- Rincon Valley, Healdsburg and Windsor, where they touch the Santa Rosa Plain.

."If you have a two-story house on the Santa Rosa Plain, it's likely to get the bejesus beat out of it, depending on where you build," said Robert McLaughlin, a field geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park. "It's not just if you're sitting on a fault, it's the kind of material you're sitting on."

Millions of years ago, the Rodgers Creek and Healdsburg faults, which pass through Santa Rosa, and the Maacama Fault, east of Healdsburg, were probably one long fault line, said David Schwartz, a USGS geologist and chief of the San Francisco Bay Area Earthquake Hazards Project.

Adding to the problem, Santa Rosa is at the hub of three young, seismically active and still-evolving earthquake faults, which make quake prediction more difficult and increases the chances of a major temblor, some geologists believe.

The three quakes in the Healdsburg area of Jan 2000 and the most recent quake in the same area sure doesn’t put anyone at ease. Take Care…Don in creepy town

• Quakes In The Santa Rosa Area