Atherton, CA— fire, flood & earthquake hazard information
Atherton is a city in San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area, covering about 5.0 square miles. This page summarizes what official government maps show for Atherton: CAL FIRE fire hazard severity zones, FEMA flood zones, state seismic hazard zones, dam inundation areas, airport noise contours, and air-quality indicators. Figures are the share of Atherton’s area that falls inside each mapped zone.
View Atherton on the interactive map → to check any specific address, free.
Wildfire hazard severity zones
CAL FIRE's current Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps do not designate any zones within Atherton. Individual properties near the boundary can still fall inside a neighboring zone — check the exact address on the map.
FEMA flood zones
FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer does not map any Special Flood Hazard Areas within Atherton. Unmapped does not mean flooding cannot occur — it means no zone is currently designated.
Earthquake faults & seismic zones
The nearest mapped fault, the Stanford fault, is about 0.7 mi (1.1 km) from the center of Atherton. 3 named fault traces in the USGS Quaternary fault database cross its boundary. 5% of its area is in a state-designated liquefaction zone of required investigation. less than 1% is in an earthquake-induced landslide zone.
| Nearest mapped fault | Stanford fault — 0.7 mi (1.1 km) |
| Named fault traces crossing boundary | 3 |
| Liquefaction zone | 5% |
| Earthquake-induced landslide zone | less than 1% |
Dam inundation, aircraft noise & air quality
24% of Atherton lies within a state-reviewed dam-failure inundation area; annual average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration across its census tracts is 8.0 μg/m³, and its composite pollution burden ranks around the 46th percentile statewide.
| Dam-failure inundation area | 24% |
| Annual PM2.5 (tract average) | 8.0 μg/m³ |
| Pollution burden percentile (statewide) | ~46 |
Frequently asked questions
- Is Atherton in a wildfire hazard severity zone?
- CAL FIRE's current Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps do not designate any zones within Atherton. Individual properties near the boundary can still fall inside a neighboring zone — check the exact address on the map.
- Is Atherton in a FEMA flood zone?
- FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer does not map any Special Flood Hazard Areas within Atherton. Unmapped does not mean flooding cannot occur — it means no zone is currently designated.
- What earthquake faults and seismic zones affect Atherton?
- The nearest mapped fault, the Stanford fault, is about 0.7 mi (1.1 km) from the center of Atherton. 3 named fault traces in the USGS Quaternary fault database cross its boundary. 5% of its area is in a state-designated liquefaction zone of required investigation. less than 1% is in an earthquake-induced landslide zone.
- How do I check a specific address in Atherton?
- Use the free sitelume interactive map at https://sitelume.com — search any Atherton address to see which mapped zones it falls in, layer by layer.
Nearby in San Mateo County
Sources: CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zones; FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer; USGS Quaternary Faults; CGS Seismic Hazard Zones & Alquist-Priolo zones; Cal OES dam inundation maps; county ALUC noise contours; CalEnviroScreen 4.0. Area shares are computed against each place’s Census TIGER boundary (last computed 2026-07-24). Boundaries and zone designations change; always verify with the issuing agency.