Hydrographs and seismographs

摘要

This month, we take a look at similar East Coast and West Coast earthquakes through the eyes of a sewer. On Aug. 23, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake occurred near Mineral, Va., and startled residents up and down the East Coast. An earthquake on the East Coast? Sure enough. Although damage was minor, the Washington Post reported that the earthquake "shook the ... carefully constructed rhythms" of urban life as buildings were evacuated, cell-phone service was throttled, and traffic congestion ensued. While those from the East Coast were befuddled by the earthquake, those from the West Coast were amused by the response. Smell a good story? We did too, and decided to compare the East Coast's response to this earthquake with the West Coast's response to a previous magnitude 5.4 earthquake in California.