A SPECIAL REPORT: EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

HELP FOR BRIDGES: How to make bridges more earthquake resistant? Install shock absorbers, says a UC Irvine engineer. . . . Working with a grant from a Japanese bridge builder, Roberto Villaverde is testing the theory that huge weights attached to something like automobile shock absorbers would dissipate much of a quake’s energy. . . . If experiments on his 12-foot bridge model prove the theory, “it could be applicable to buildings too.”

Sleeping Fault

In the past 18 months, there have been no earthquakes over 2.5 in magnitude along the Orange County portion of the Newport-Inglewood fault. Temblors of 2.5 or more since 1982:

Year & Magnitude

‘82: 2.8, 2.5

‘83: 2.5

‘84: 2.7, 3.0, 3.0, 2.8

‘85: None

‘86: 3.6

‘87: 3.2

‘88: 4.7, 2.7

‘89: 2.6

‘90: 2.6, 2.5, 3.8

‘91: None

‘92: None

Source: Caltech