The Martis Creek Dam is just outside of the town of Truckee California with a population of 16,000 people, but it is also upstream about 35 miles from Reno, Nevada the gambling town with a population of around 220,000. A newly discovered fault that crosses under the dam could potentially produce a 6.9 magnitude earthquake and potentially cause a failure of the structure. The fault was discovered from aerial LIDAR imagery analysis and confirmed and dated with paleoseismic trenching work done along various glacial terraces. [Source: Mail Online via AGC SmartBrief. Image: USACE via Mail Online]
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From the USGS Newsroom:
USGS scientist Ken Hudnut fills us in on how science created the theoretical magnitude 7.8 earthquake behind the Great Southern California ShakeOut—the largest earthquake preparedness drill in U.S. history, coming Nov. 13—and what such an earthquake would do to downtown Los Angeles.
Seems like they did it right wiith this study. They had multiple teams independenlty come up with the ground shaking model, then had different structural engineers who are experts in seismic design of large buildings review the tall buildings in the L.A. area for the design earthquake. They say that buildings would likely come down in the 7.8 magnitude event. Click through to watch the video interview from the USGS.