Living near fault lines is inherently dangerous but difficult to avoid. Evidence suggests that humans congregating around tectonic faults (areas where the plates that make up the lithosphere above the Earth's mantle travel and sometimes cause earthquakes) was no accident.15 Nov 2018
Construction is very rampant beside or on earthquake faults, including the West Valley Fault that transects Metro Manila. … Phivolcs now recommends avoiding construction within 5 meters on each side of a fault trace, or a total width of 10 meters.
But first, what is considered a safe distance from a fault line? PhiVolcs recommends avoiding construction within five meters on each side of a fault trace. This is equivalent to a total width of 10 meters. This is considered the ideal “10-meter wide no-build zone” in the vicinity of a fault.
The building setback from an active fault trace is recommended by the consulting geologist investigating the property. Many geologists recommend a 50-foot fault setback; however, shorter setbacks have been recommended by some consultants.
Before an Earthquake
The danger of living near fault lines Living near fault lines is inherently dangerous but difficult to avoid. … The dangers people face include not only tremors but also other threats: Widespread smoke and ash can pollute the air and block out the sun for miles in every direction.
Earthquakes occur on faults – strike-slip earthquakes occur on strike-slip faults, normal earthquakes occur on normal faults, and thrust earthquakes occur on thrust or reverse faults. When an earthquake occurs on one of these faults, the rock on one side of the fault slips with respect to the other.
Earthquakes happen every day all over the world, along both tectonic plate edges and interiors. Earthquakes occur along faults, which are fractures between blocks of rock that allow the blocks to move relative to one another.
Strong ground motion may, in turn, cause ground failure—slumps, landslides, liquefaction, and lateral spread—depending on shaking intensity (usually stronger nearer the source) and local site conditions. If it occurs offshore, fault displacement can generate tsunamis capable of inundating nearby and distant shorelines.