Tree-ring responses to the 1978 earthquake at Stephens Pass, northeastern California

The 1978 earthquake at Stephens Pass, dropped a series of grabens that average 4.5 m in width, extend up to 1 m in depth, and are found intermittently along a 2-km-long rupture zone. The formation of this graben series killed or otherwise affected many trees growing in or immediately adjacent to the rupture zone. Nine trees responded to the 1978 earthquake with anomalously narrow ring widths, beginning in 1979 and continuing for several years. One tree responded with anomalously wide latewood relative to total ring width. This study serves as a specific calibration example for dendrochronologically studying prehistoric earthquakes. -from Authors