The 60-degree bend in the Pacific seafloor is the result of the subduction of the Kula Plate and the Farallon Plate beneath the North American Plate. As the Kula Plate descended beneath North America, it created the Mendocino Fracture Zone, a long, curved line of weakness in the Earth's crust that extends from the Mendocino Triple Junction off the coast of Northern California to the Gulf of Alaska. As the Farallon Plate descended beneath North America, it created the San Andreas Fault, another long, curved line of weakness in the Earth's crust that extends from the Gulf of California to Northern California.