The cache is located on the San Jacinto Fault where
it passes through a residential neighborhood. To get there from the
I-10 take Waterman Ave. south to Commercial. Turn west onto
Commercial and you will drive right to it.
Since homes
could not be constructed on the fault by virtue of the
Alquist-Priolo Act, it serves as a greenway. It is easy to
spot since the movement of the fault increases erosion
creating a depression that is obvious. Take time to walk along
what must be one of the most well landscaped faults anywhere.
If you go in the early morning you will see egrets that come
to feed here.
This is a right-lateral, strike-slip fault. Meaning that if you
stand on one side of the fault, the other side will appear to move
to the right. The fault moves at a rate of approx 1 cm/year so,
barring any ruptures along here, the streets that cross the fault
will be offset by about 10 inches in 25 years.
The San Jacinto Fault is approx. 130 miles long including the
Coyote Creek Segment. Entering San Bernardino County just east of
Reche Canyon, it runs north under the cache. After crossing the
Union Pacific rail line, the fault also runs under the I-215/I-10
interchange. A major earthquake here could do some serious damage.
Cal-Trans has refitted the structure as well as they can to
minimize any damage. Both the roadway and the ground here has been
fitted with an assortment of seismometers by the California
Geologic Survey to monitor any movement. Still it was not a good
idea to build a major freeway interchange directly on top of one of
the most active faults in California.
Continuing north along I-215 (the radio towers just west of the
freeway and south of Orange Show Road, are in the fault zone) it
biscets the San Bernardino Community College Campus on its way to
the San Andreas Fault. Engineers have made considerable effort to
reduce damage to campus buildings in the event of a rupture
here.
The prehistoric record of activity along this fault rivals that
of the sothern section of the San Andreas Fault. It is estimated
that there have been at least 10 major, surface-rupture earthquakes
along this fault in the past 3000 years.