Faulth associated with plate boundaries are the source of most large earthquakes
Large faults are not perfectly straight or continuous ; instead, they consist of numerous branches and smaller fractures that display kinks and offsets . Such a pattern is displayed in Figure 8.6 , which shows the San Andreas Fault as a system of several faults of various sizes.
The San Andreas is undoubtedly the most studied fault system in the world . Over the years , research has shown that displacement occurs along discrete segments that behave