Lessons from Parkfield help predict continued fault movements after earthquakes

A new study shows that the San Andreas Fault continued to slip gradually for six to twelve years after the 2004 magnitude 6.0 Parkfield, California earthquake, raising the issue of continued damage to structures built across fault zones after damaging earthquakes. This long period of “afterslip” compares to just a year of afterslip for a similar magnitude quake in Napa, California in 2014, demonstrating large variation in fault behavior after earthquakes.