Hollister slowly creeps in two
Along a few residential blocks in Hollister plenty of evidence
exists that we live in earthquake country. Sidewalks curve, streets
creep along and houses slowly slip off their foundations in a place
not that far from Downtown Hollister.
Hollister slowly creeps in two
Along a few residential blocks in Hollister plenty of evidence exists that we live in earthquake country. Sidewalks curve, streets creep along and houses slowly slip off their foundations in a place not that far from Downtown Hollister.
Inmar Salvatiar is well aware that the land near his house is an attraction to tourists from other towns and local people alike.
The Hollister Walking Tour, developed by Joe Dellinger, a Stanford University geologist, includes a stretch of houses impacted by the Calaveras Fault. Dellinger includes a map and details of the route on his Web site.
The damage is more subtle than that caused by jarring earthquakes, as the Calaveras is a creeping fault. A creeping fault is one that is marked by slow movement in opposite directions, rather than the sharp jolts associated with earthquakes. Creep faults are not locked by friction, and rocks on either side of the fault are able to slide along slowly in response to the forces driving the fault, according to the U. S. Geological Survey.
“It is moving north laterally, in splinters,” Dellinger wrote, of the city on his Web site. “Hollister is literally being ripped in two.”
Salvatiar lives in a house on Central Avenue, not far from the Locust Street and Central Avenue crosswalk, which shows the fault running through it. The crosswalk has cracks that branch out in a spider web along the fault.
Even with the creep, minor earthquakes happen all the time around San Benito County. Most are so small, we don’t feel them. More than 300 earthquakes happened in California and Nevada in the last week, according to the USGS Web site, which monitors seismic activity. Between Jan. 10 and 17, San Benito had ten earthquakes epicentered within the county, most in Tres Pinos, the Pinnacles or New Idria.
Some residents are not happy to be living near part of the historic area. Lynette Ward has lived on Fourth Street for four years. The curb running along her house contains several bends and weaves like a snake alongside the street. The damage continues on the sidewalk where several sidewalk planks are raised up at five-degree angles, creating large gaps.
In front of Ward’s house, the cement stairs have moved in different directions and have slid away from their supporting walls.
“I’ve seen the house moving” Ward said. “You can tell it is coming off the foundation.”
The damage is worse than when her mother originally bought the house. Ward and her mother are disturbed by how much the house has moved.
Some new residents were caught off guard that their soon-to-be homes were so close to a fault line. Rebecca Alonso moved into her new home on Fifth Street Dec. 31. Alonso, new to Hollister, had not heard of the Hollister Walking Tour.
“I just moved in and the newspaper shows up,” she said.
Alonso likes the uniqueness of the bends and turns both inside and outside her home. Inside, the floors slant up in different directions.
Reggie and Lolly, her Rat Terriers enjoy exploring the unusual terrain of their new surroundings, Alonso said.
Their backyard, in particular, has a lot of slanting surfaces. Her backyard walkway tilts at a 15-degree angle to the ground. Several large cracks run along the paved area. There are few flat places in the yard.
“They really like the place. It’s different for them,” she said. “Running up the new ‘hills’ is challenging for them.”
Danielle Stolman can be reached at [email protected].
Highlights along the Walking Tour
– Vista Park Hill: The hill is a scarp, or a step on the surface of the earth caused by as slip in a fault, according to the U. S. Geological Survey
– 164 Locust St.: Home moved on a shallow incline, and curb in front bends in a snakelike pattern
– Locust and Central crosswalk: The fault “crosses” the street and can be seen in cracks on the asphalt
– 359 Locust St.: The walkway in front of house is a 45-degree angle to that of the walk near sidewalk
– Fourth and Locust streets: Wall shows fault cracks at corner and sidewalk planks have gaps in between
– 570 5th St.: The curbs and sidewalks show many bends
For more information on the earthquake tour or earthquakes in general, visit http://sepwww.stanford.edu/oldsep/joe/fault_images/Hollister.html or www.usgs.gov.
