Hi Randall. Hollister is indeed a creepy town. The Calaveras fault runs right through it. We don’t have many quakes in the town itself, but the action of the creep can be seen in the cracks in the streets, sidewalks and curbs.

Some homes that are on, or near the fault show indications of being twisted by the continuous movement along the fault.

The mystery about this creep is that it started in 1929 and no one really knows why. Creep commenced sometime after 1929 and averaged 8 mm/yr. Between 1961 and 1967, the slip rate was about 15 mm/yr. Since 1979, two sites have been monitored in Hollister, one showing 6.6 mm/yr (seventh street) and the other, only 2.3 km northwest (Wright Road), creeps 12 mm/yr - the fastest rate of movement measured across any fault in the San Francisco Bay Region.'' Sooner or later the southern segment is going to play catch up with the rest of the fault. However at present time no one knows when that is likely to happen. Then again that may never happen. The segment between the two locations could get wider and wider until it becomes a rift zone which will present a whole different set of problems. Take Care…Don in creepy town

• Hollister