Creep

En echelon shears crossing street, Hayward Hayward, California. The street shows en echelon shears crossing Foothill Boulevard in San Leandro, just to the north of Hayward. Here the shear zone is quite narrow.

Creep is slow, more or less continuous movement occurring on faults due to ongoing tectonic deformation. Faults that are creeping do not tend to have large earthquakes.