Late‐Holocene Rupture History of the Rose Canyon Fault in Old Town, San Diego: Implications for Cascading Earthquakes on the Newport–Inglewood–Rose Canyon Fault System

Research Article| March 26, 2019 Late‐Holocene Rupture History of the Rose Canyon Fault in Old Town, San Diego: Implications for Cascading Earthquakes on the Newport–Inglewood–Rose Canyon Fault System Drake M. Singleton; Drake M. Singleton Corresponding Author aDepartment of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, MC‐1020, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California 92182‐1020 U.S.A., dsinglet@ucsd.edudAlso at Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093‐0225 U.S.A. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Thomas K. Rockwell; Thomas K. Rockwell aDepartment of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, MC‐1020, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California 92182‐1020 U.S.A., dsinglet@ucsd.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Diane Murbach; Diane Murbach bMurbach Geotech, 3130 North Evergreen Street, San Diego, California 92110 U.S.A. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Monte Murbach; Monte Murbach bMurbach Geotech, 3130 North Evergreen Street, San Diego, California 92110 U.S.A. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jillian M. Maloney; Jillian M. Maloney aDepartment of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, MC‐1020, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California 92182‐1020 U.S.A., dsinglet@ucsd.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Tom Freeman; Tom Freeman c34351 Camino El Molino, Capistrano Beach, California 92624 U.S.A. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Yuval Levy Yuval Levy aDepartment of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, MC‐1020, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California 92182‐1020 U.S.A., dsinglet@ucsd.edudAlso at Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093‐0225 U.S.A. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Drake M. Singleton Corresponding Author aDepartment of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, MC‐1020, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California 92182‐1020 U.S.A., dsinglet@ucsd.edudAlso at Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093‐0225 U.S.A. Thomas K. Rockwell aDepartment of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, MC‐1020, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California 92182‐1020 U.S.A., dsinglet@ucsd.edu Diane Murbach bMurbach Geotech, 3130 North Evergreen Street, San Diego, California 92110 U.S.A. Monte Murbach bMurbach Geotech, 3130 North Evergreen Street, San Diego, California 92110 U.S.A. Jillian M. Maloney aDepartment of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, MC‐1020, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California 92182‐1020 U.S.A., dsinglet@ucsd.edu Tom Freeman c34351 Camino El Molino, Capistrano Beach, California 92624 U.S.A. Yuval Levy aDepartment of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, MC‐1020, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California 92182‐1020 U.S.A., dsinglet@ucsd.edudAlso at Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093‐0225 U.S.A. Publisher: Seismological Society of America First Online: 27 Mar 2019 Online Issn: 1943-3573 Print Issn: 0037-1106 © Seismological Society of America Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (2019) 109 (3): 855–874. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120180236 Article history First Online: 27 Mar 2019 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Drake M. Singleton, Thomas K. Rockwell, Diane Murbach, Monte Murbach, Jillian M. Maloney, Tom Freeman, Yuval Levy; Late‐Holocene Rupture History of the Rose Canyon Fault in Old Town, San Diego: Implications for Cascading Earthquakes on the Newport–Inglewood–Rose Canyon Fault System. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 2019;; 109 (3): 855–874. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120180236 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyBulletin of the Seismological Society of America Search Advanced Search Abstract We present new results from paleoseismic trenches excavated across the main trace of the Rose Canyon fault zone (RCFZ) in Old Town‐San Diego, California, to determine the timing of late‐Holocene earthquakes. There is evidence for four large surface‐rupturing events, as well as two smaller events, the youngest of which cuts the early historical living surface that contains glass, ceramics, and a historical era foundation. This youngest event is likely related to the 1862 San Diego earthquake, which had an estimated magnitude close to M 6. The age of older ruptures is constrained by 36 radiocarbon dates that exhibit good stratigraphic order. The four larger events produced substantially more ground deformation, and over a broader width of the fault zone, than the 1862 event. The youngest of the four larger events is found immediately below the historical horizon and likely correlates with the most recent event recognized at multiple trench sites along the RCFZ in San Diego and dates to the mid‐1700s. The three older events have all occurred in the past 3300 yr, with the penultimate large event dated to about A.D. 1300.The results of this paleoseismic study indicate that the RCFZ has sustained activity throughout the late‐Holocene and into the historical period. These results also suggest that the RCFZ has a late‐Holocene recurrence interval of ∼700 yr⁠, which is several hundred years shorter than previous estimates. Comparison of RCFZ paleoseismic results with paleoseismic data from the Newport–Inglewood fault zone (NIFZ) shows that some RCFZ earthquakes have similar timing with NIFZ events, most likely indicating the occurrence of a sequence or cluster of events on the coastal system of strike‐slip faults. The alternative explanation—very large earthquakes rupturing both faults simultaneously—is unlikely when both the slip rate and recurrence intervals for these faults are considered. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.