Word: seismicity
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...those optimistic signs, many of the major economies are showing unmistakable signs of stress and strain. The drop in oil prices in the U.S. has stunned energy-producing regions and hurt a wide range of industries, from real estate to banking. Last week alone brought several seismic shocks: the bankruptcy filing by LTV, a major steel producer; the failure of First National Bank of Oklahoma City, a large oil-patch bank; and the $640 million loss reported by BankAmerica, which is saddled with numerous bad energy loans (see ECONOMY & BUSINESS). The dislocations caused by plunging oil prices have become...
What must have started as an appeal to street-wise pacifists, SOMBJAF thrives as hipper-than-thou funkadelia and constitutes the wittiest attack on U.S. arms policy since Tom Lehrer. A solid achievement when you recall that, at high voltages, Clinton has been known to inflict minor seismic damage. An amazing achievement considering how top-heavy the record might have sounded due to its immense cast of extras--30 background singers, 10 keyboard players and an array of drum-related, beat-box soloists...
...kind of seismic party line, one earthquake may signal that another could occur; sites that lie between past gaps hit by recent tremors are the areas most likely to rupture next, rather the way buttons popping on a shirt put greater pressure on the buttons still intact. Noting that earthquakes in the 20th century have periodically shaken surrounding regions, geologists knew that Mexico's Michoacan gap--quiescent for many decades--could not hold out forever. "Wherever stress builds up for a long time in a seismic gap," says David Simpson of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, "something...
...Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa, only 50 miles from the epicenter, suffered less damage than Mexico City, 200 miles away. That is because the shoreline is made of solid rock and thus shakes less violently. Mexico's capital, however, was built on an alluvial lake bed. As a result, the seismic waves, though diminished in intensity on their trip from the coast, were amplified in the city's sediment foundation. Many tall buildings in the densely populated metropolis may not have been built to rigid quake- resistant standards. Indeed, some turned out to be just the right height to vibrate or resonate...
...than the month or day. But by closely monitoring quake zones, they hope to find subtle clues that will lead to more precise and reliable forecasts. Keiiti Aki, a geophysicist at the University of Southern California, has designed a detailed computer model that combines such varied earthquake signposts as seismic anomalies, strange animal behavior, changes in the water table and peculiar bulges along the terrain...