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Article: Searching for signs of an eastern killer. (evidence of past earthquakes)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- April 4, 1992
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Science Service, 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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In 1986, an earthquake leveled parts of Charleston, S.C., killing some 60 people. Geological investigations in recent years have shown that this quake -- estimated at magnitude 7.5 -- was not the first large shock to hit the Charleston region. Although no historical records exist for these previous quakes, they left behind telltale clues in the soil of the area.
Geologists with Ebasco Services in Greensboro, N.C., have now gone to other eastern regions looking for the same buried evidence of prehistoric shaking. The researchers looked for ancient signs of liquefaction -- a process that occurs when strong vibrations weaken water-saturated sediments, turning ...