Nature
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Earthquake faults crisscross this land and shape its restless landscape. The San Andreas fault cuts along the eastern side of the Coachella Valley and runs parallel to Interstate 10 toward the base of the Little San Bernardino Mountains. This fault forms the boundary between two massive pieces of Earth's crust, the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. Land on the west side of the San Andreas fault is slowly moving northward past land on the east side at a rate of almost two inches a year. In a few million years Los Angeles will be San Francisco's neighbor. Pulling, straining, lifting, and dipping, the forces of the San Andreas fault system have etched this landscape for millions of years. These forces have created Mount San Jacinto's steep escarpment, valleys, and mountains.
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