Hike shows how the 1906 earthquake destroyed Point Reyes

More than a century ago, one of the deadliest earthquakes on record shook the Gulf region. While the 1906 earthquake destroyed more than 80% of San Francisco, its epicenter was thought to be near the town of Olima in Point Reyes, where the earthquake shredded the ground significantly (later, seismologists determined that the epicenter was actually off the San Francisco beach) .

This is because Point Reyes lies directly on the San Andreas Fault, which ruptured and slid northwest by as much as 20 feet during the earthquake. At the time, though, the San Andreas Fault didn’t have a name. No one can explain the devastation inflicted on the rural population of Point Reyes, many of whom ran dairy and beef ranches, and saw their homes, barns, and other structures.

Today, the Olema Valley landscape has recovered, and the fault line has been transformed into a pastoral garden. But the scar of the 1906 natural disaster remains.

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The Earthquake Trail inside Point Reyes National Seashore at Point Reyes Station, California, on November 18, 2021.

Douglas Zimmermann/Svgat

On a recent sunny Saturday, I headed to Point Reyes National Seashore to hike up the earthquake trail, a short, paved 0.6-mile hike opposite the Bear Valley Visitor Center. While the quick loop has another charm—a shaded picnic area, a contrasting creek, and educational signs explaining plate tectonics—the real draw is the fencing.

Yes, a fence. But not just any old fence. This fence, during the 1906 earthquake, swayed 16 feet in an instant as the Pacific plate slid to the northwest with the rumble of the earth. The current structure is actually a reconstruction of the original fence, which dates from the beginning of the park in the 1960s.

When approached about halfway through the wooded driveway, it does not stand out very prominently at first.

Two sections of the fence were split 16 feet apart during the 1906 earthquake.

Douglas Zimmermann/Svgat

At first glance, I only noticed the left part of the picket fence, which looks quite ordinary on its own, and is located next to some steps. But instead of continuing to climb the hill in a straight line, it stops abruptly. You won’t see where the fence resumes until after you turn your head to the right: Flung randomly 16 feet to the side, apparently designed by a drunk.

The sign pointing to the fence reads: “The fence above you, split by the action of the rupture, remains as one piece of evidence indicating the movement.” “…Go up the stairs, stand on the scar that was repaired in 1906 and imagine it happening again.”

Top left, a fence near Bolinas offset by the 1906 earthquake, and bottom left, a reconstruction of a fence along the park’s earthquake path. Right, ground rips along the San Andreas Fault in the Olma Valley during the 1906 earthquake.

Point Reyes National Seashore Archives

So I did. Using the best of my imagination, I imagined the plates of North America and the Pacific sliding against each other 115 years ago, ripping apart this humble fence and miles of farmland in the Olima Valley in one disastrous second. I imagined it happening again at this very moment, my foot was installed precariously on a major fault line. I mean, everyone is always saying we’re going to have another massive earthquake in California. Who says this can’t happen now?

No, well, very scary. I rushed down the stairs.

The land along the San Andreas Fault in the Olma Valley was torn apart by the 1906 earthquake.

Point Reyes National Seashore Archives

However, the fence is not the only indicator of the 1906 earthquake on the earthquake’s path. Above it is a line of blue leaflets, indicating the active San Andreas Fault trail. This feature has the potential to be either very cool or very scary, depending on your level of earthquake fear (me: very high).

However, the events of 1906 have been enough in the past that a slight, inoffensive spike probably won’t shake you to the core. But the runaway thing is that the San Andreas Fault is still moving — about two inches a year. Sometime in the future, the two plates may slide here again for the first time since 1906, releasing more than a century of tension. Who knows what Point Reyes will look like next?

Two hikers walk through the fence along the earthquake path.

Douglas Zimmermann/Svgat

A visitor shows how far fences have moved on the earthquake path inside Point Reyes National Beach in Point Reyes Station, California, on November 18, 2021.

Madeline Wells / Svgat

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