Rumor has it, California has dropped into the ocean. The joke has been kicking around for a long time and contains a grain of truth as the Pacific slowly chips away at the headlands along the coast.
In this view, it is apparent that the high ground along Coleman Beach Road has dropped off onto the beach below. Of a greater concern, this section of California lies adjacent to the Mendocino Fracture Zone and the largest North American fault system, dubbed San Andreas.
Soon after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (8.25 magnitude), geologists studied displacement along the fault line and reported a movement of 15 feet. This 780 mile long fault line extends from the southern Gulf of California, north to California's Point Arena. Over a 29 million year fault history, geologists have determined the overall strike-slip shift in these two plates (North American and Pacific) exceeds 340 miles.