SOUTHLAND BLASTS TO PROBE FAULTS; UNDERGROUND EXPLOSIONS WILL BE BARELY NOTICED.Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer Scientists plan to detonate det·o·nate intr. & tr.v. det·o·nat·ed, det·o·nat·ing, det·o·nates To explode or cause to explode. [Latin d dozens of underground explosions in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. this week as they try to map out locations of hidden earthquake faults and develop information leading to better building codes. The detonations, which researchers say most residents won't notice, will be set off in the middle of the night to avoid confusing their instruments with normal daytime rumblings caused by airplanes and construction. ``They're very small,'' said Mark Benthien, an official with the Southern California Earthquake Center The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), headquartered at the University of Southern California, was founded in 1991 with a mission to:
The first explosions will be set off in the more remote forest and mountain areas north of the Valley on Wednesday at 1:30 a.m., 3 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. The explosions in the Valley will be set off early Saturday morning. The researchers are using fertilizer-based explosives, ranging from 10 to 500 pounds in the more populated areas to 2,000 pounds in the desert. Altogether they are setting 93 explosions over a 70-mile line that is perpendicular to several faults, from Pacific Palisades Palisades, cliffs along the west bank of the Hudson River, NE N.J. and SE N.Y., extending from N of Jersey City, N.J., to the vicinity of Piermont, N.Y., with a general altitude of from 350 ft to 550 ft (107–168 m). north through the Valley and over the mountains out to the Mojave Desert Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States. . The locations in the Valley include a number of public parks and schools, including: Bertrand Avenue Elementary, Granada Hills High School Granada Hills Charter High School (Granada Hills High School) is a public, charter, co-educational, secondary school consisting of students in grades 9-12. The school colors are green, black, and white. , Northridge Middle School and Reseda Park. But Benthien stressed that the ones near schools and populated areas will be barely noticeable. ``I could jump up and down and probably cause more shaking,'' he said. Still, some residents were nervous about the detonations. ``I'm afraid it could set off something bigger than the Northridge Earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. ,'' said Teresa Jordan of Simi Valley. ``If not right away, it could be a number of weeks or months, who's to say?'' But Benthien said there is no chance of that happening. ``Earthquakes start over five miles below the surface. We're only 60 feet below the surface,'' he said. ``These (other) vibrations, such as construction, mining and airplanes vibrate more than our explosions do. There's never been an earthquake caused by a 747 landing at LAX.'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion