Mount Diablo Thrust Fault

The westward component of the North American plate's motion and the irregularity of the San Andreas Fault results in some compressive force along the San Andreas and its associated faults, thus helping lift the Coast Ranges.

[1] The Mount Diablo Thrust Fault is approximately 25 km long, and dips at an angle of 38 degrees to the northeast.

The Mount Diablo Thrust Fault is capable of generating an earthquake of magnitude MW=6.7.

No large historic earthquakes are known to have occurred on the Mount Diablo Thrust Fault.

[3] The Mount Diablo Thrust Fault underlays several cities and unincorporated communities in Contra Costa County: Alamo, Antioch, Blackhawk, Brentwood, Clayton, Concord, Danville, Diablo, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek.

Locations of faults in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Mount Diablo Fault is the green quadrilateral near the center of the map.