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Introduction > Earthquakes That Have Caused Liquefaction in the San Francisco Bay Area

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Earthquakes That Have Caused Liquefaction in the San Francisco Bay Area

Although it may seem that there have not been many recent earthquakes in the Bay region, at least 21 have occurred in the past 200+ years that caused liquefaction. Each earthquake has affected a particular part of the region, depending on its size and location. Most of the region is likely to be subject to shaking strong enough to liquefy susceptible sediment.

The expected severity of ground shaking and damage in the San Francisco Bay region from anticipated future earthquakes.
(click to enlarge)

The following list shows most, if not all, of these earthquakes. The liquefaction occurrences caused by these earthquakes are widely distributed in the region.

Northern California earthquakes associated with liquefaction (modified from Youd and Hoose, 1978)
Year	Date	Epicentral area	Maximum Modified Mercalli intensity	Magnitude	Severity of ground failure
1800	Oct. 11(?)	San Juan Bautista	---	---	moderate(?)
1836	June 10	San Francisco Bay	IX-X	---	moderate(?)
1838	June	San Francisco Bay Area	X	---	moderate to severe(?)
1852	Nov. 22-24	San Francisco Peninsula	VIII	---	moderate(?)
1861	July 3	Contra Costa_Alameda Counties	VIII	---	very slight
1865	Oct. 8	Santa Cruz Mountains	VIII-IX	---	moderate
1868	Oct. 21	Hayward	IX-X	---	moderate
1885	Mar. 30	Southeast of Hollister	VII	---	very slight
1890	Apr. 24	Monterey Bay Region	VII	---	slight
1892	Apr. 19	Vacaville	IX	---	slight
1892	Apr. 21	Winters	IX	---	slight
1898	Mar. 30	Mare Island	VIII	---	very slight
1906	Apr. 18	San Francisco	XI	7.9	severe
1954	Apr. 25	East of Watsonville	VIII	5.2	very slight
1957	Mar. 22	West of Daly City	VII	5.3	moderate
1958	Dec. 11.	Southwest of San Francisco	VI	4.7	very slight
1962	June 6	Near Lakeport	---	---	very slight
1963	Sept. 14	East of Watsonville	VII	5.4	very slight
1969	Oct. 1	Santa Rosa	VII-VIII	5.7	very slight
1989	Oct. 17	Loma Prieta		6.9	severe
1990	Apr. 18	Chittenden		5.4	very slight