Observations of creep-related tilt, strain, and water-level changes on the central San Andreas fault

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Abstract
Several simultaneous observations of surface fault creep, tilt, strain, and water-level fluctuations have been recorded along the San Andreas fault in the vicinity of the Almaden-Cienega Winery south of Hollister, California. Creep events recorded on the winery creepmeters on February 16, 1975, and by the winery and Harris Ranch creepmeters on September 17, 1975, were modeled as migrating dislocations with geometries chosen to give results that match the observed tilt and strain data. Source depths for the February 16th and September 17th creep events were found to be relatively shallow, the depth to the lower boundary of the slip surface being 0.4 and 2.0 km, respectively. In both cases slip was found to propagate from the northwest toward the southeast, which is consistent with changes in water level observed in a well near the winery. Since the installation of the tiltmeter and strainmeter 0.8 km northwest of the Cienega Winery, six tilt and strain signals with durations typical of creep events have been related to observed surface creep, while 11 such signals appear unrelated to recorded surface creep. The latter may result from surface creep of limited extent or creep at depth.