Hidden earthquakes

Journal Article · Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989 · Scientific American; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0689-48· OSTI ID:6742272

Stein, R S; Yeats, R S

Seismologists generally look for earthquakes to happen along visible fault lines, e.g., the San Andreas fault. The authors maintain that another source of dangerous quakes has been overlooked: the release of stress along a fault that is hidden under a fold in the earth's crust. The paper describes the differences between an earthquake which occurs on a visible fault and one which occurs under an anticline and warns that Los Angeles greatest earthquake threat may come from a small quake originating under downtown Los Angeles, rather than a larger earthquake which occurs 50 miles away at the San Andreas fault.

• OSTI ID: 6742272
• Journal Information: Scientific American; (USA), Journal Name: Scientific American; (USA) Vol. 260:6; ISSN SCAMA; ISSN 0036-8733
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
ANTICLINES
ASIA
CALIFORNIA
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DEPTH
DIMENSIONS
EARTHQUAKE MAGNITUDE
EARTHQUAKES
EASTERN EUROPE
EUROPE
FEDERAL REGION IX
FORECASTING
FRACTURE MECHANICS
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MECHANICS
NORTH AMERICA
SEISMIC EVENTS
SIMULATION
USA
USSR