| Information from the UCB & USGS Menlo Park | |
| Location: | 79 km from Punta Gorda
40.386 -125.279 |
| Date & Time (Local): | 2000/03/16
07:19:56 |
| Date & Time (UTC): | 2000/03/16
15:19:56 |
| Depth (km): | 7.8 |
| Mw: (Preferred) | 5.9 |
| Ml: | 5.8 |
| Fault System: | Mendocino Fault |
This earthquake occurred in the most seismically active area in California. The Cape Mendocino region is part of a complex geological area, where the Pacific, North America, and Gorda plates meet, and is known as a "triple junction".
This area produces significant earthquakes on a regular basis. Long-time residents will remember the 1980 Trinidad earthquake (M7.1), which ruptured the Gorda plate in a left-lateral mechanism. This event injured 8 people and caused $1,750,000 in damage. The 1992 Cape Mendocino earthquake (M7.1) was a subduction zone earthquake, occuring at the boundary between the Gorda and North America plates. Because it occured on land, this event and its two large aftershocks caused 356 injuries and $48,300,000 in damage. In 1994, a M6.9 earthquake ocurred on the Mendocino fault zone, west of this event. Both the 1994 and the recent event show the right-lateral strike-slip mechanisms typically associated with this fault. More information on the 1994 earthquake can be found in this write-up from the USGS in Menlo Park. Several months later, a M6.6 earthquake occurred in the Gorda plate. Similar to the 1980 event, this earthquake showed a left-lateral strike-slip mechanism.
