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Article: Waiting for the big one: two new studies show that when it comes to a major earthquake, California could be a time bomb.(Earth/physical: quakes/waves)
- Article from:
- Science World
- Article date:
- October 13, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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California seems to have it all--from Hollywood to the redwoods, from the Lakers to the Golden Gate. The spectacular coastline of Big Sur, lofty peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and bone-dry Death Valley all form part of the Golden State's blockbuster geography. And so does an unstable seam called the San Andreas Fault system (see map, left) that winds beneath the ground like an 800-mile-long snake. Its faults, or boundaries between Earth's constantly moving surface plates, are the source of one of California's most explosive stunners--earthquakes!
In the last 15 years, two damaging tremors shook California: In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake south of San ...