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- THE WEEK, Page 25HEALTH & SCIENCEWestern Quakery
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- From L.A. to Seattle, the West Coast is even shakier than
- expected
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- Relatively few people were jolted by the twin earthquakes
- that struck the sparsely populated Southern California desert
- last June. A lot more may be shaken, though, by a new report
- from the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies. While the
- Landers and Big Bear quakes (respectively 7.5 and 6.6 on the
- Richter scale) did little damage, they evidently added stress to
- the system of underground faults that honeycombs that part of the
- state. As a result, chances of another big quake have
- quadrupled, with nearly 1-in-2 odds that one will hit within
- five years. And next time it could happen on the San Andreas
- Fault, which runs close to Los Angeles and other population
- centers.
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- Seattle can start worrying too. Five studies published in
- Science describe a previously undiscovered fault there, along
- with evidence that the area was rocked by one or more major
- earthquakes within the past two millenniums. Alas, it's too
- soon to predict when the next biggie will hit the Pacific
- Northwest.
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