Fault Line Park (Rooted in Place)
Park, East Village

Did You Know…

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

…that Fault Line Park in the East Village sits directly atop a section of the active Rose Canyon Fault Line, which runs perpendicular to San Diego’s coastline?

Designed by local landscape architectural firm, Spurlock, the 1.5-acre park was completed in 2015 and artistically expresses the push and pull of the tectonic plates that sit below.

A sidewalk bisects the quaint park, which verges into the grounds of the 45-story Pinnacle on the Park apartments.The larger side of the park features a smooth, flat grassy lawn and play area for kids. It is also where a variety of civic and political events are often held. In contrast, the smaller side shows off topography that appears contorted, as though a geologic force disrupted the area.

As a gauge for measuring actual slippage of the fault line, two 6-foot mirrored spheres sit on opposite sides of the middle pathway. One is equipped with an accelerometer to measure the earth’s movements from 14 feet below. As a result, researchers will be able to compare over time the visual offsets between the two spheres to determine how much ground movement has occurred.