| Abstract: | The ML5.1 Santa Barbara earthquake of August 13, 1978 occurred at lat 34 ? 22.2‘N., long 119 ? 43.0‘ 4 km south of Santa Barbara, Calif. at a depth of 12.5 km in the northeast Santa Barbara Channel, part of the western Transverse Ranges geomorphic-structural province. This part of the province is characterized by seismically active, east-trending reverse faults and rates of coastal uplift that have averaged up to about 10 m/1000 years over the last 45,000 years.
No surface rupture was detected onshore. Subsurface rupture propagated northwest from the main shock toward Goleta, 15 km west of Santa Barbara, where a maximum acceleration of 0.44 g was measured at ground level and extensive minor damage occurred; only minor injuries were reported. A fairly well-constrained fault-plane solution of the main shock and distribution of the aftershocks indicate that left-reverse-oblique slip occurred on west-northwest-trending, north-dipping reverse faults; inadequate dip control precludes good correlation with any one of several mapped faults. Had the earthquake been larger and rupture propagated to the southeast or a greater distance to the northwest, it could have posed a hazard to oilfield operations. The fault-plane solution and aftershock pattern closely fit the model of regional deformation and the solution closely resembles those of five previously mapped events located within a 15-km radius. |
| Genre: | USGS Numbered Series |
| ProdID: | 4368 |
| Citation Author: | Lee, William Hung Kan; Johnson, C. E.; Henyey, T. L.; Yerkes, R. L. |
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| Citation Language: | ENGLISH |
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| Citation Phsyical Description: | iii, 11 p. :ill. ;27 cm. |
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| Citation Publisher: | U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey ;
free on application to Branch of Distribution, |
| Citation Series: | Circular |
| Citation Series Code: | CIR |
| Citation Series Number: | 797 |
| Citation Search Results Text: | A preliminary study of the Santa Barbara, California, earthquake of August 13, 1978, and its major aftershocks; 1978; CIR; 797; Lee, William Hung Kan; Johnson, C. E.; Henyey, T. L.; Yerkes, R. L. |
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| Citation Year: | 1978 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | A preliminary study of the Santa Barbara, California, earthquake of August 13, 1978, and its major aftershocks; 1978; CIR; 797; Lee, William Hung Kan; Johnson, C. E.; Henyey, T. L.; Yerkes, R. L. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1978/0797/report-thumb.jpg |
| URL (DOCUMENT): | http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1978/0797/report.pdf |
| Date Other: | Sat, 1 Jan 1994 00:00 -0600 |
| Publisher: | U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey ;
free on application to Branch of Distribution, |
