‘Big One’ at a Big Lake
You casually say in “Salton Sea Plan Mired in Muck†(Nov. 24) that “the seismically active and gooey seabed may not be stable enough to support a dike.†In fact, the northwest end of the proposed $1.5-billion earthen dike would be anchored against the San Andreas fault zone that last ruptured here in 1680 and is long overdue for “the big one.â€
A major earthquake here would liquefy the lakebed and probably most of any earthen dike with an almost instantaneous lateral movement of about 30 feet. In addition, an earthquake-generated tsunami is quite possible in such a large body of water. Find another way!
Edward C. Wilson
Rancho Mirage
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