Does the San Andreas Fault line mark out the part of California that will fall into the Pacific next year?
by 
jt007m
ANSWERS: 4
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Hopefully not...the San Andreas fault is the line where two tectonic plates meet and rub against each other. When one plate slips beneath the other, then there is an earthquake...but there have been several large earthquakes in the region in recorded history and nothing has fallen off yet.
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The San Andreas fault is the boundary between the North American plate and the Pacific plate. It is a type of boundary called a transform fault boundary. Along this type of boundary the plates slide horizontally past each other. That portion of the continent that is west of the fault is slowly sliding to the northnorthwest. Eventually, Baja and that portion af California that is west of the fault will become an island off the coast of Northern California. For more information on the different types of plate boundaries see http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/understanding.html
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Next year? where did this infomation come from?
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Plate slippage along the fault line is actually horizontal, not vertical, which means that California is moving steadily north-by-northwest. It's not going to break off. According to the Berkeley Seismology Library, it is slowly moving upwards, and in SEVERAL million years, will become part of Alaska. As continental movement in that area is only approximately 15 miles per million years, though, it'll take quite a while. Places where you can read more about it include: http://seismo.berkeley.edu/faq/california.html http://www.consrv.ca.gov/index/Earthquakes/qh_earthquakes_10.5_Review.htm
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