The Davis landscape today. Many residents think the Sacramento area is immune to earthquakes, but they have happened here before. This water tower, like many other structures in UC Davis, has been retrofitted for earthquake safety. The 1892 Winters/Vacaville quakes affected mainly the western Sacramento Valley, with effects in Davis but barely in Sacramento.

Geology of the Davis/Sacramento Area The Central Vally is situated on top of sedimentary rock, as well as sand and debris washed in from valley floods. The valley is flat, for the most part, except for the steep rising of land in the western valley area. This forms the Coast Ranges. On the other side of the Coast Ranges is a type of rock called franciscan. On the other side of the Central Valley are the foothills, more gradually-rising than the Coast Ranges and much less apparent. Beyond the Coast Ranges is the San Andreas fault zone. The San Andreas fault zone consists of the San Andreas fault itself, along with many other faults that run parallel to it. Some of these faults run as far inland as the Green Valley area. In the 1892 quakes, the epicenters were somewhere in the foothills west of Vacaville and Winters. --by Alex Hoff � � �

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