We were informed our first night that we are sitting on the San Andreas fault and that just over a week ago there was a flurry of earthquakes in the 4.5 range. So we figured we better head to the fault itself and have a closer look. The Coachella Valley Preserve is a large parcel of desert preserve with sand dunes and shrubby desert plants and the occasional oasis. It turns out that the oases(?) are signs of the fault - At the visitor centre where we had an explanation, we were standing on the North American plate. Not far across over a field was the Pacific Plate. Between is the shifting earth that gets pushed around in an earthquake. An oasis shows up when the earth shifts and a layer of water far below the surface is cut in half leaving nowhere for the water to go but slowly up to the surface. The clue is a grove of Californian Fan Palms crowded around the water.
We went for a mile-long walk through desert stopping at the oases - amazing cool places in the mid-day heat (88 degrees today).
We were told that the scientists now agree that within the next 30 years the big one is going to happen. It is now 100 years overdue. I'm going to avoid high-rises during our stay.
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