Tuesday April 18th: The Search for the Dog Valley Fault

The Dog Valley fault (DVF) is an active left-lateral strike-slip fault that is responsible for the M6 Truckee earthquake (1966) — the largest earthquake yet recorded in the Tahoe-Truckee area of California and Nevada. Although the DVF is included in the Quaternary Fault and Fold Database of the United States, its ground-surface trace is not well established. Getting a better handle on this fault is important because another large earthquake on the DVF might endanger Stampede and Boca dams, whose failures would quickly send a significant volume of water and debris into downtown Reno. One estimate places the potential number of casualties related to sudden failure of these dams in the low six-figure range. This talk will summarize work that my students and I have done to locate this fault and understand its structural context.

The event will be hybrid - hosted in person at Z Cafe & Bar in Uptown Oakland and virtually via Microsoft Teams. Virtual attendees will receive a Teams invite the day of the event.