The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) has made the Utah Quaternary Fault and Fold Database available through a new interactive web application on the UGS website, opens in a new tab. This database contains information on faults and fault-related folds considered to be potential earthquake sources. The faults and folds in the database are considered to have been sources of large earthquakes (about magnitude 6.5 or greater) during the Quaternary geologic time period (past 2.6 million years); these geologic structures are the most likely sources of large earthquakes in the future. The Utah Quaternary Fault and Fold Database is the primary source of Utah data for the Quaternary Fault and Fold Database of the United States maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The interactive map’s user interface was built using ESRI’s JavaScript API. Several search options allow the user to locate a fault of interest, or specify a location to see if any Quaternary faults are nearby. Pop-up windows provide a brief summary of important information associated with the faults, as well as a link to detailed reports available through the USGS national database. Users can select from a variety of base maps including topographic, shaded relief, and satellite imagery. A glossary explains terms used in the pop-up windows as well as terms used in the detailed reports that may be unfamiliar to non-geologists.
In addition to the UGS interactive map, the Utah Quaternary Fault and Fold Database exists as a fully attributed GIS feature class in the State Geographic Information Database, and can be downloaded from the UGRC.
Guest Blog by the Utah Geological Survey