News From the Field

Seasonal rain and snow trigger small earthquakes on California faults


June 15, 2017

This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.

California's earthquake faults continually accumulate stress until they fail in an earthquake. University of California, Berkeley, seismologists studied the impact of the flexing of Earth's crust under the load of winter rains and subsequent unloading during summer drought, and found that the up and down movement of the mountains changes the stresses on the state's faults, making them fail slightly more often as the snows melt and the rivers drain in late summer and early fall.Full Story

Source
University of California, Berkeley

The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.

mail icon Get News Updates by Email 

Connect with us online
NSF website: nsf.gov
NSF News: nsf.gov/news
For News Media: nsf.gov/news/newsroom
Statistics: nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards database: nsf.gov/awardsearch/

Follow us on social
Twitter: twitter.com/NSF
Facebook: facebook.com/US.NSF
Instagram: instagram.com/nsfgov