Word: earth
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...down steep hillsides. Slowly she pivots, taking in the sailboats on the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, the shimmering surface of the Pacific Ocean. Just out there--she points--a couple of miles offshore, lies the place where, early in the morning of April 18, 1906, the earth's crust cracked like an eggshell, unleashing what--even in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina--stands as one of the greatest disasters in U.S. history...
...than 3,000 people killed, at least 225,000 more--roughly half the population of the city of San Francisco at the time--left homeless. But, more shocking still, was the fact that no one, not even scientists, could explain why, without warning, such fury had erupted from the earth below...
...published in 1908, Lawson and his team went on to elaborate a new model of earthquake formation--the elastic-rebound theory--that holds up to this day. For years, they correctly surmised, stress had been ratcheting up along the San Andreas until finally it became so overwhelming that the earth's crust snapped like an overextended rubber band. Moreover, the buildup and release of strain appeared to be recurrent, resulting over time in a succession of earthquakes "of greater or less violence." These pioneering researchers provided the first big clue that earthquakes occur in cycles--that in the area around...
From the air, the San Andreas stands out as a linear gash in the earth's surface that is easy to spot. On the ground, however, it is often hard to read, particularly north and south of San Francisco where it strays offshore, runs through dense redwood forests and even disappears beneath houses and streets. In many populated areas, it's impossible to tell just where the active strands of the fault lie because so many features have been filled in or bulldozed away...
There's something different about Angela Merkel. Germans remain spellbound by the novelty of a female Chancellor, but it's her down-to-earth manner that really sets her apart. There isn't a politician in Europe today who would not be giddy with delight if they racked up the approval ratings Merkel has been scoring - 80% in February, the highest for any German Chancellor since World War II. But the former physics lecturer is not one to get carried away with fripperies like opinion polls. A participant at a recent meeting with business leaders in Berlin tells...