Geologists, seismologists, and geophysicists have intensively studied the San Andreas fault system for the past 20 to 30 years. Their goals were to learn more about damaging earthquakes, the behavior of major stirke-slip faults, and methods of reducing earthquake hazards in populated areas. Field geologic investigations, seismic networks, post-earthquake studies, precision geodetic surveys, and reflection and refraction seismic surveys are among the methods used to decipher the history, geometry, and mechanics of the system. -from Authors