CALIFORNIA ARCHIPELAGO: When the Earth Gives, it Also Takes Away

On a Tuesday morning, a scientist at the new USGS data laboratory in Pasadena notices odd results from overnight tremors and sets his worries aside for now. High in the Sierra Nevada, a prospector strikes a rich gold vein, while in Newport Beach a film producer waits for a starlet who may be arriving with bad news. Along the Colorado River, a sudden strong earthquake hits near Yuma, and at Hoover Dam the manager faces damage to the canyon walls and access roads. Meanwhile, an editor in Los Angeles sorts through reports of devastation and an odd claim that the river is running backward. Each of their days is about to change, and the shaking has only just begun.