This map shows all earthquakes greater than or equal to magnitude 6.0 known to have occurred in southern California since 1892. The epicenters of these earthquakes are plotted as filled circles of varying sizes against a map of active fault traces, colored according to slip rate. In some places, these circles overlap. The size of each circle is indicative of the magnitude of that earthquake; the color of each matches the slip rate of the fault that ruptured to produce it. The color scale used is shown at upper right. The distribution of slip rates in southern California is far from linear, and the non-linear (logarithmic) color scale reflects this.
When studying this map, keep in mind that this figure is meant for qualitative, not quantitative, analysis. The slip rates given here are not meant to represent exact figures, but rather a good estimate, often based on several different studies using different methods to determine the rate.
