© 1998 Antelope Valley Press, Palmdale, California, USA (805) 273-2700
Earthquakes are a common occurrence in the Valley, which sits on of top the destructive San Andreas Fault. And in recent years, scientists have discovered young, active faults in the area, said Jim Calzia, a 24-year geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
"The San Gabriel Mountains just south of the Valley are still going up, so there is a lot of earthquake activity in the area," Calzia said.
The Cemetery Fault, which extends three miles from Sierra Highway to 37th Street East; the Little Rock Fault, an 11-mile fault that runs from Elizabeth Lake to the Little Rock Wash; the Nadeau Fault, which extends 21 miles across the western Valley from 40th Street West to Pallet Creek east of Littlerock, are considered active faults.
The Punchbowl Fault, stretching 40 miles from 47th Street East to Cajon Creek, is an ancient fault with no evidence of recent activity, according to the geologist.
Construction of a second Antelope Valley College campus and a housing development southeast of Palmdale was stalled by residents who were concerned about the dense construction so near the San Andreas and Nadeau faults running across the property bounded by 47th and 37th streets east and Barrel Springs Road.
For a close-up look at the destructive power of earthquakes, motorists can drive through a road cut on the 14 Freeway north of Avenue S and see where jumbled layers of geometric rock formations melded when two faults crashed together thousands of years ago.
"We call that the World's Greatest Road Cut, because you can see what the San Andreas has done there," Calzia said.
During the year, the faults produced dozens of small quakes, registering 3.0 to 5.4 in magnitude, which rattled the desert from Lake Hughes to Bishop and from Ridgecrest to south of Palmdale.
Some of the more notable earthquakes reported by the Valley Press are:
Jan. 30 - Aftershocks of a Sept. 20, 1995 quake shook the high desert about eight miles north of Ridgecrest. The shaking included a 3.0-magnitude temblor which struck at about 5 a.m.
March 18 - A 5.4-magnitude shaker in Barstow, an aftershock of a 1992 Landers earthquake, cracked a Mojave Desert freeway bridge over Interstate 15. The 7:24 a.m. temblor also closed Calico Ghost Town after several wood and adobe buildings were damaged.
April 21 - An earthquake at 12:38 a.m., an aftershock of the March 18 shaker, registered in at 3.5.
April 26 - More than three years after the Jan. 17, 1994 quake, a wave of aftershocks from the Northridge quake rolled through the Valley. The largest registered a 5.0-magnitude.
May 22 to 23 - More aftershocks rocked the Ridgecrest and Barstow areas during the summer. Four small earthquakes, three aftershocks to the Landers quake, rumbled through the towns.
June 29 - Two small earthquakes, measuring 3.4 and 3.3 hit Barstow.
July 1 and 2- Two quakes - a 3.2- and a 4.3-magnitude - struck Ridgecrest.
July 10 - Antelope Valley continued to rock and roll when a 3.0 temblor struck at 11:40 p.m. about seven miles south-southeast of Palmdale.
While the Valley remained relatively quiet after July, the ground began to shake again in October.
Oct. 3 - A 3.1-magnitude earthquake rippled the Lake Hughes area.
Nov. 5 - A 3.7 quake, a small aftershock of a June 28, 1992 7.3magnitude quake rattled the Barstow area at about 8:33 p.m.
Nov. 15 to 16 - Bishop residents rocked and rolled as a swarm of earthquakes, registering from 3.8 to 5.3 hit.
During the year, the ground beneath Southern California continued to move as quakes also shattered Bakersfield, Palomar Mountain, portions of Los Angeles, Little Lake, Lake Isabella, Fontana, Shoshone (near Death Valley), Lucerne Valley, Big Bear, San Bernardino and Banning.