Archived report (descriptions no longer maintained)
Seattle fault zone (Class A) No. 570
Last Review Date: 2016-11-25
| County(s) and State(s) |
KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON KITSAP COUNTY, WASHINGTON |
| Physiographic province(s) |
PACIFIC BORDER |
| Reliability of location |
Good Compiled at 1:24,000 and 1:100,000 scale. |
| Length (km) | 69 km. |
| Average strike | N85°W |
| Sense of movement | Thrust |
| Dip | 25°–80° S. |
| Historic earthquake | |
| Most recent prehistoric deformation | latest Quaternary (<15 ka) |
| Slip-rate category | Between 0.2 and 1.0 mm/yr |
| References |
Arcos, M.E.M., 2012, The A.D. 900–930 Seattle-fault-zone Earthquake with a wider coseismic rupture patch and postseismic submergence—Inferences from new sedimentary evidence: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 102, p. 1079–1098, doi:10.1785/0120110123. Atwater, B.F., 1999, Radiocarbon dating of a Seattle earthquake to A.D. 900-930 [abs.]: Seismological Research Letters, v. 70, p. 232. Atwater, B.F., and Moore, A.L., 1992, A tsunami about 1000 years ago in Puget Sound, Washington: Science, v. 258, p. 1614-1617. Blakely, R.J., Wells, R.E., Weaver, C.S., and Johnson, S.Y., 2002, Location, structure, and seismicity of the Seattle fault, Washington—Evidence from aeromagnetic anomalies, geologic mapping, and seismic-reflection data: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 114, no. 2, p. 169-177. Booth, D.B., 1994, Glaciofluvial infilling and scour of the Puget Lowland, Washington, during ice-sheet glaciation: Geology, v. 22, p. 695-698. Booth, D.B., Troost, K.G., and Hagstrum, J.T., 2004, Deformation of Quaternary strata and its relationship to crustal folds and faults, south-central Puget Lowland, Washington State: Geology, v. 32, p. 505–508, doi:10.1130/G20355.1. Bourgeois, J., and Johnson, S.Y., 2001, Geologic evidence of earthquakes at the Snohomish delta, Washington, in the past 1200 years: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 113, p. 482-494. Brocher, T.M., Blakley, R.J., and Wells, R.E., 2004, Interpretation of the Seattle uplift, Washington, as a passive-roof duplex: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 94, p. 1379–1401, doi:10.1785/012003190. Brocher, T.M., Parsons, T., Blakely, R.J., Christensen, N.I., Fisher, M.A., Wells, R.E., and SHIPS Working Group, 2001, Upper crustal structure in Puget Lowland, Washington—Results from the 1998 seismic hazards investigation in Puget Sound: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 106, p. 13,541–13,564. Brocher, T.M., Pratt, T.L., Creager, K.C., Crosson, R.S., Steele, W.P., Weaver, C.S., Frankel, A.D., Trehu, A.M., Snelson, C.M., Miller, K.C., Harder, S.H., and ten Brink, U.S., 2000, Urban seismic experiments investigate Seattle fault and basin: Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, v. 81, p. 551-552. Bucknam, R.C., Hemphill-Haley, E., and Leopold, E.B., 1992, Abrupt uplift within the past 1700 years at southern Puget Sound, Washington: Science, v. 258, p. 1611-1614. Bucknam, R.C., Sherrod, B.L., and Elfendahl, G., 1999, A fault scarp of probable Holocene age in the Seattle fault zone, Bainbridge Island, Washington: Seismological Research Letters, v. 258, p. 1611-1614. Calvert, A.J., Fisher, M.A., and SHIPS Working Group, 2001, Imaging the Seattle fault zone with high-resolution seismic tomography: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 28, no. 2337-2340. Danes, Z.F., Bonno, M., Brau, E., Gilham, W.D., Hoffman, T.F., Johansen, D., Jones, M,H., Malfait, B., Masten, J., Teague, G.O., 1965, Geophysical investigation of the southern Puget Sound area, Washington: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 70, p. 5573-5579. Dragovich, J. D., Anderson, M. L., Walsh, T. J., Johnson, B. L., and Adams, T. L., 2007, Geologic map of the Fall City 7.5-minute quadrangle, King County, Washington: Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources, Geologic Map GM-67, scale 1:24,000. Gower, H.D., Yount, J.C., and Crosson, R.S., 1985, Seismotectonic map of the Puget Sound region, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I-1613, scale 1:250,000. Haeussler, P.J., and Clark, K.P., 2000, Preliminary geologic map of the Wildcat Lake 7.5' quadrangle, Kitsap and Mason Counties, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-356, scale 1:24,000. Haeussler, P.J., Wells, R.E., Blakely, R.J., Murphy, J., and Wooden, J., L., 2000, Structure and timing of movement on the Seattle fault at Green and Gold Mountains, Kitsap Peninsula, Washington: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, no. 6, p. A-16. Harding, D.J., and Berghoff, G.S., 2000, Fault scarp detection beneath dense vegetation cover—Airborne laser mapping of the Seattle fault zone, Bainbridge Island, Washington State: Proceedings of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., 9 p. Harding, D.J., Johnson, S.Y., and Haugerud, R.A., 2002, Folding and rupture of an uplifted Holocene marine platform in the Seattle fault zone, Washington, revealed by airborne laser swath mapping: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2002CD/finalprogram/abstract_34490.htm Haugerud, R., 2005, Preliminary geologic map of Bainbridge Island, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey, Open-File Report OF-2005-1387, scale 1:24,000. Haugerud, R.A., Harding, D.J., Johnson, S.Y., Harless, J.L., Weaver, C.S., and Sherrod, B.L., 2003, High-resolution lidar topography of the Puget Lowland, Washington—A bonanza for earth science: Geological Society of America GSA Today, v. 13, no. 6, p. 4-10. Haugerud, R.A., Weaver, C.S., and Harless, J., 2001, Finding faults with LIDAR in the Puget Lowland: Seismological Research Letters, v. 72, p. 253. Jacoby, G.C., Williams, P.L., and Buckley, B.M., 1992, Tree ring correlation between prehistoric landslides and abrupt tectonic events in Seattle, Washington: Science, v. 258, p. 1621-1623. Johnson, S.Y., Dadisman, S.V., Childs, J.R., and Stanley, W.D., 1999, Active tectonics of the Seattle fault and central Puget Lowland—Implications for earthquake hazards: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 111, p. 1042-1053 and oversize insert. Johnson, S.Y., Potter, C.J., and Armentrout, J.M., 1994, Origin and Evolution of the Seattle fault and Seattle basin: Geology, v. 22, p. 71-74 and oversize insert. Karlin, R.E., and Abella, S.E.B., 1992, Paleoearthquakes in the Puget Sound region recorded in sediments from Lake Washington, U.S.A.: Science, v. 258, p. 1617-1620. Karlin, R.E., Holmes, M., Abella, S.E.B., and Sylwester, R., 2004, Holocene landslides and a 3500-year record of Pacific Northwest earthquakes from sediments in Lake Washington: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 116, p. 94-108. Kelsey, H.M., Sherrod, B.L., Nelson, A.R., and Brocher, T.M., 2008, Earthquakes generated from bedding plane-parallel reverse faults above an active wedge thrust, Seattle fault zone: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 120, p. 1581–1597. Khazaradze, G.Q., Anthony, and Dragert, H., 1999, Tectonic deformation in western Washington from continuous GPS measurements: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 26, p. 3153-3156. Lamb A.P., Liberty L.M., Blakely R.J., Pratt T.L., Sherrod B.L., and van Wijk K., 2012, Western limits of the Seattle fault zone and its interaction with the Olympic Peninsula, Washington: Geosphere v. 8, p. 915–30, doi:10.1130/GES00780.1. Liberty, L., 2009, Seismic reflection imaging of the western portions of the Seattle fault: Report to the U.S. Geological Survey under contract number 08HQGR0075, 16 p. Liberty, L.M., and Pape, K.M., 2007, Seismic characterization of the Seattle and southern Whidbey Island fault zones in the Snoqualmie River Valley, Washington: Technical report to the U.S. Geological Survey under contract number 06HQGR0111, 17 p., http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/external/reports/06HQGR0111.pdf Liberty, L.M., and Pratt, T.L., 2008, Structure of the eastern Seattle fault zone, Washington State—New insights from seismic reflection data: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 98, p. 1681–1695, DOI: 10.1785/0120070145. McCaffrey, R., Long, M.D., Goldfinger, C., Zwick, P.C., Nabelek, J.L., Johnson, C.K., and Smith, C., 2000, Rotation and pl. locking along the southern Cascadia subduction zone: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 27, p. 3117-3120. Miller, M.M., Miller, D.J., Rubin, C.M., Dragert, H., Wang, Kelin, Qamar, Anthony, and Goldfinger, C., 2001, GPS-determination of along-strike variation in Cascadia margin kinematics—Implications for relative pl. motion, subduction zone coupling, and permanent deformation: Tectonics, v. 20, p. 161-176. Muller, J.R., and Harding, D.J., 2007, Using LiDAR surface deformation mapping to constrain earthquake magnitudes on the Seattle fault in Washington State, USA: Urban Remote Sensing Joint Event, Paris, 1-13 April 2007, pp. 1-7, doi: 10.1109/URS.2007.371789. Nelson, A.R., Johnson, S.T., Kelsey, H.M., Sherrod, B.L., Wells, R.E., Okumura, K., Bradley, L., Bogar, R., and Personius, S.F., 2003, Field and laboratory data from an earthquake history of the Waterman Point fault, Kitsap County, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2423, 1 sheet. Nelson, A.R., Johnson, S.Y., Kelsey, H.M., Sherrod, B.L., Wells, R.E., Bradley, L., and Okumura, K., 2003, Late Holocene earthquakes on the Waterman Point reverse fault, another ALSM-discovered fault scarp in the Seattle fault zone, Puget Lowland, Washington: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Nelson, A.R., Johnson, S.Y., Kelsey, H.M., Wells, R.E., Sherrod, B.L., Pezzopane, S.K., Bradley, L., and Koehler, R.D., III, 2003, Late Holocene earthquakes on the Toe Jam Hill fault, Seattle fault zone, Bainbridge Island, Washington: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 115, no. 11, p. 16. Nelson, A.R., Johnson, S.Y., Pezzopane, S.K., Wells, R.E., Kelsey, H.M., Sherrod, B.L., Koehler, R.D., Bradley, L.A., Bucknam, R.C., LaPrade, W.T., Cox, J.W., and Narwold, C.F., 2000, Postglacial and Late Holocene earthquakes on the Toe Jam strand of the Seattle fault, Bainbridge Island, Washington: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, p. A-58. Nelson, A.R., Johnson, S.Y., Wells, R.E., Pezzopane, S.K., Kelsey, H.M., Sherrod, B.L., Bradley, L.A., Koehler, R.D.I., Bucknam, R.C., Haugerud, R.A., and LaPrade, W.T., 2002, Field and laboratory data from an earthquake history study of the Toe Jam Hill fault, Bainbridge Island, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-0060, 19 p., 2 sheets. Nelson, A.R., Personius, S.F., Sherrod, B.L., Kelsey, H.M., Johnson, S.Y., Bradley, L-A., and Wells, R.E., 2014, Diverse rupture modes for surface-deforming upper plate earthquakes in the southern Puget Lowland of Washington State: Geosphere, v. 10, p. 769-796, doi:10.1130/GES00967.1. Porter, S.C., and Swanson, T.W., 1998, Radiocarbon age constraints on rates of advance and retreat of the Puget lobe of the Cordilleran ice sheet during the last glaciation: Quaternary Research, v. 50, p. 205-213. Pratt, T.L., Johnson, S., Potter, C., Stephenson, W., and Finn, C., 1997, Seismic reflection images beneath Puget Sound, western Washington State—The Puget Lowland thrust sheet hypothesis: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 102, p. 27,469-27,489. Pratt, T.L., Troost, K.G., Odum, J.K., and Stephenson, W.J., 2015, Kinematics of shallow backthrusts in the Seattle fault zone, Washington State: Geosphere, v. 11, p. 1948–1974, doi:10.1130/GES01179.1. Prunier, C.F., Karlin, R.E., Holmes, M., Abella, S.E.B., and Pratt, T.L., 1997, Holocene neotectonic deformation and earthquake history in sediments from Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, and Port Orchard: Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, v. 78, no. 46, p. 440. Rogers, W.P., 1970, A geological and geophysical study of the central Puget Sound Lowland: Seattle, University of Washington, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, 123 p., 9. Schuster, R.L., Logan, R.L., and Pringle, P.T., 1992, Prehistoric rock avalanches in the Olympic Mountains, Washington: Science, v. 258, p. 1620-1621. Sherrod, B., and Gomberg, J., 2014, Crustal earthquake triggering by pre-historic great earthquakes on subduction zone thrusts: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 119, p 1273–1294, doi: 10.1002/2013JB010635. Sherrod, B.L., 2001, Evidence for earthquake-induced subsidence about 1100 years ago in coastal marshes of southern Puget Sound, Washington: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 113, p. 1299-1311. Sherrod, B.L., 2002, Late Quaternary surface rupture along the Seattle fault zone near Bellevue, Washington: American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #S21C-12. Sherrod, B.L., Bucknam, R.C., and Leopold, E.B., 2000, Holocene relative sea level changes along the Seattle fault at Restoration Point, Washington: Quaternary Research, v. 54, p. 384-393. Sherrod, B.L., Haeussler, P.J., Wells, R., Troost, K., and Haugerud, R., 2001, Surface rupture in the Seattle fault zone near Bellevue, Washington: Seismological Research Letters, v. 72, p. 253. Sherrod, D.R., 1985, Geologic setting of the Breitenbush-Austin Hot Springs area, Cascade Range, north-central Oregon—Chapter 1, in Sherrod, D.R., ed., Geology and geothermal resources of the Breitenbush-Austin Hot Springs area, Clackamas and Marion Counties, Oregon: State of Oregon, Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Open-File Report 0-88-5, p. 1-14. ten Brink, U.S., Molzer, P.C., Fisher, M.A., Blakely, R.J., Bucknam, R.C., Parsons, T., Crosson, R.S., and Creagher, K.C., 2002, Subsurface geometry and evolution of the Seattle fault zone and the Seattle basin, Washington: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 92, p. 1737-1753. ten Brink, U.S., Song, J., and Bucknam, R.C., 2006, Rupture models for the A.D. 900–930 Seattle fault earthquake from uplifted shorelines: Geology, v. 34, p. p. 585-588, doi: 10.1130/G22173.1. Wells, R.E., and Johnson, S.Y., 2000, Neotectonics of western Washington and the Puget Lowland from northward migration of the Cascadia forearc: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, p. A-75. Wells, R.E., Weaver, C.S., and Blakely, R.J., 1998, Forearc migration in Cascadia and its neotectonic significance: Geology, v. 26, p. 759-762. Yoko, O., Satoko, O., Hisashi, S., and Sakae, M., 2006, Late Holocene deformation as deduced from the former shoreline height of marine terraces above the Seattle fault zone, Washington State: Seismological Society of Japan, v. 58, p. 385–399. Yount, J.C., and Gower, H.D., 1991, Bedrock geologic map of the Seattle 30' by 60' quadrangle, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 91-147, 37 p., 4, scale 1:100,000. Yount, J.C., and Holmes, M.L., 1992, The Seattle fault—A possible Quaternary reverse fault beneath Seattle Washington: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 24, p. 93. Yount, J.C., Dembroff, G.R., and Barats, G.M., 1985, Map showing depth to bedrock in the Seattle 30' by 60' quadrangle, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-1692, scale 1:100,000. |