Mendocino fracture zone

It runs westward from a triple junction with the San Andreas Fault and the Cascadia subduction zone for about 300 km to the southern end of the Gorda Ridge.

It continues on west of its junction with the Gorda Ridge, as an inactive remnant section which extends for about 4,000 km to approximately 35°N 175°W.

In tsunami studies, energy focusing around the fracture zone has been noted, leading to increased wave heights in the area around Crescent City, California.

The fracture zone is referred to as the Mendocino escarpment in these studies, descriptively rather than named from its geological origin.

Where it meets Honey Lake Fault, it bends to trend northeast across the northwest corner of Nevada, where it accompanies the geological trough that forms Black Rock Desert.