Ground shaking and engineering studies on the Parkfield section of the San Andreas fault zone

Earthquakes have been occurring in California for eons and will continue to play an important role in the evolution of California landforms. Recent California earthquakes have been of moderate size (magnitude 5.5 to less than 7), have occurred in rural or low population areas, and have therefore been important mainly to scientists and local citizens. Nevertheless, because of the loss that can result from ground shaking during an earthquake, experiments are now being planned for the Parkfield area that will improve the prediction to ground motion and the understanding of damage to small structures and pipelines.