Using Quaternary Fault KMZ Files
Readme FIRST
These files were prepared the week of 27 March
2006.
This dataset is updated periodically.
To use these data, you must already have Google Earth loaded
on your local machine and know how to use the zoom, tilt, and
pan features. Go to the Google Earth website to download the
program and get instructions on its use if needed.
http://earth.google.com/
Remember, even though you can zoom in to "see your house" in Google Earth, these data were compiled at a lower resolution. Their accuracy is good to no more than 450 feet (140 meters), or the width of the fault trace at about 15 miles. These representations of the faults are their mapped surface location - most of the faults dip one way or another, and their location at depth must be modeled or inferred from geologic evidence. Fault dip information is in the database entry for each fault, available through the application (see below.)
There are five "kmz" files containing the Quaternary Faults, divided by age of last known movement.
- Historic are the most recent, known movement less than about 150 years.
- Holocene_LatestPleistocene are younger than 15,000 years.
- LateQuaternary are younger than 130,000 years.
- MidToLateQuaternary are younger than 750,000 years.
- Quaternary are younger than 1,600,000 years.
You can download the files individually, or they are zipped together in the QuaternaryFaults.zip file, along with this text in the ReadmeFIRST file.
If you download the zipped file, you will need to unzip the folder before loading the files into Google Earth.
Once you load one or more files, you will see the line segments displayed on the Google Earth base.
- The faults are colored coded for age category.
- As you hover the cursor over a fault, it's name will appear in the same color as the fault.
- If you click on the fault, a text box will open and you can click a link for the database of information about that fault.
- Sometimes it takes two clicks to get the text box to open.
You can also access a fault through the Google Earth table of contents. Open the folder for the correct age, find the fault name in the list, and double click the name. Google Earth will "fly" to the fault you selected.
For more information about the United States Quaternary Fault
and Fold Database, examine the metadata document
When using this data, please provide proper acknowledgement.
The home page for this project is
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/qfaults/
