Silver Creek Fault

The Silver Creek Fault is a potentially seismically active, northwest–southeast trending strike-slip fault structure in Santa Clara County, California. The Silver Creek Fault runs through and adjacent to the {{convert|25|mi|km|-long|adj=mid}}, {{convert|5|mi|km|0|-wide|adj=mid}} Evergreen Basin,[http://achaia.unavco.org/public/meetings/viewabstract.asp?id=2296&yr=2003 Definition of the Silver Creek Fault and Evergreen Basin from Active-Source Seismic Reflection Imaging, San Jose, California] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202235/http://achaia.unavco.org/public/meetings/viewabstract.asp?id=2296&yr=2003 |date=2007-09-27 }} and generally lies parallel and between the Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek, running directly through the center of San Jose.{{cite news|title=Study of fault directly under San Jose points to hard shaking|first=Lisa M.|last=Krieger|work=San Jose Mercury News|publisher=Bay Area News Group|date=April 10, 2009|access-date=July 7, 2018|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2009/04/10/study-of-fault-directly-under-san-jose-points-to-hard-shaking/}} It also runs parallel to the Hayward Fault, which is located {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} to the east.

No historic activity of the Silver Creek Fault has been recorded.Environmental Site Assessment 251 River Oaks Parkway, San Jose, California, Earth Metrics Report 10087, Aug. 3, 1989 The City of San José considers the fault to be a rupture hazard only in the foothills but not in the Santa Clara Valley floor. Studies in 2003 and 2004 for the Silicon Valley BART extension, which will cross the fault, found that the northern segment may be as shallow as {{convert|100|ft}} deep but found no evidence of surface rupture.{{cite book|chapter=Soils, Geology, and Geologic Hazards|chapter-url=https://www.sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2199?page=11|first1=Scott E.|last1=Fitinghoff|first2=Ron L.|last2=Helm|first3=Laura C.|last3=Knutson|title=Envision 2040 San José General Plan Update|publisher=City of San José|date=October 19, 2010|page=7|chapter-format=PDF}} A 2017 article suggests that the fault may have effectively become dormant or abandoned roughly {{Ma|1.5|2.5}}.{{cite journal|title=The Evergreen basin and the role of the Silver Creek fault in the San Andreas fault system, San Francisco Bay region, California|first1=R. C.|last1=Jachens|first2=C. M.|last2=Wentworth|first3=R. W.|last3=Graymer|first4=R. A.|last4=Williams|first5=D. A.|last5=Ponce|first6=E. A.|last6=Mankinen|first7=W. J.|last7=Stephenson|first8=V. E.|last8=Langenheim|journal=Geosphere|location=Boulder, Colorado|publisher=Geological Society of America|volume=13|issue=2|date=2017|pages=269–286|doi=10.1130/GES01385.1|bibcode=2017Geosp..13..269J|doi-access=free}}

Research in 2003 suggested that an extension of the Silver Creek Fault may run the entire length of the East Bay,[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003AGUFM.S21F0403S Aerial mapping of the Silver Creek Fault] but by 2010 the California Geological Survey's state Fault Activity Map had truncated the Silver Creek Fault south of Fremont.{{cite news|title=Two Bay Area Faults Do Not Exist|first=Katharine|last=Mieszkowski|work=The New York Times|date=April 30, 2010|access-date=July 7, 2018|url=https://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/two-bay-area-faults-do-not-exist/}}