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Fly over the Hollywood fault zone

The California Geological Survey released a preliminary map of a section of the Hollywood fault in January. The state may make adjustments to the final map, to be released later this year, after hearing appeals from building owners. When the map is made official, construction will be allowed in the state-designated earthquake fault zone only if owners prove new buildings won’t be on top of the fault. (Update: View the final map here, released in November 2014.) Existing buildings are not affected by the law unless owners plan substantial renovations. This graphic is featured in: LOCAL New L.A.-area quake map shows fault lines under schools, hotels, homes

About the map The lines in this video depict the California Geological Survey’s preliminary map of the Hollywood fault. The exact location of the Hollywood fault has not been established in many areas. The lines are the California Geological Survey's estimate of the fault's location, with varying levels of confidence. The lines were mapped primarily to create an earthquake fault zone under state law. Extensions of the fault could be anywhere in the larger fault zone, bordered by blue and white. Further studies could later show a different path for the fault. Only detailed underground studies, such as digging a trench, can show whether a fault exists or is absent underneath a specific property.

Begin video to jump to a landmark Mondrian Los Angeles hotel Sunset Tower Hotel The Standard, Hollywood hotel 1625 Laurel Ave. 1633 Laurel Ave. Hollywood United Methodist Church/The Oaks School Las Palmas Senior Citizen Center/Canyon School preschool The Montecito 1800 Whitley apartments The American Musical and Dramatic Academy Capitol Records tower/proposed Millennium Hollywood skyscrapers Blvd6200 St. Stephen's Episcopal Church/Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschool First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood Immaculate Heart High School and Middle School Atwater Avenue Elementary School Read more

The video shows fault lines in three colors representing the type of evidence state geologists used to establish their locations.

Areas where state geologists think faulting exists but have no specific evidence for it are shown as gaps in the fault line.

Approximately located fault traces are based on projection from better-located traces or geomorphic features indicative of faulting. They may also be shown where a fault is interpreted from abrupt contrasts between two or more soil features, on or below the surface. These traces are most often interpolated — drawn between two better-defined locations — but are sometimes extrapolated by continuing a better-defined line that has a distinct trend. The error in their location could be greater than the line shown on the map. Inferred fault traces are based on less-distinct geomorphic features or more widely spaced or ambiguous outcrop contrasts. They are more commonly based on extrapolation of a fault line than interpolation. The true fault pattern may be more complex or discontinuous than shown. Related faulting could occur anywhere within the boundaries of the earthquake fault zone. Concealed fault traces are usually indicated where a fault is strongly believed to exist but the precise surface location is not possible to know because of overlying young sediments — usually young stream alluvium or an alluvial fan. Concealed traces usually connect better-located fault traces to either side.