The Rodgers Creek Fault runs through Sonoma County in the North San Francisco Bay Area, passing near the city of Santa Rosa. It is a right-lateral strike-slip fault that forms the northward continuation of the Hayward Fault across San Pablo Bay, part of the wider San Andreas Fault system.
As one of the principal faults of the Bay Area, it carries a significant share of the plate-boundary motion and is considered among the most likely sources of a damaging future earthquake in the region. Its trace runs directly through populated valleys and wine country.
While no great historical earthquake is firmly attributed to the Rodgers Creek Fault itself, geological studies show it has produced major ruptures in the past and accumulates strain at a rapid rate. Seismic hazard assessments rank it high for a possible magnitude ~7 event.