TV Reviews : ‘Killer Quake!’ Focuses on Threat Beneath

One of the metaphors used by seismologists interviewed in tonight’s “Nova” report, “Killer Quake!,” is the “shattered glass” pattern of recently discovered blind-thrust faults lacing the Los Angeles Basin. The shattering of scientific illusions is what “Killer Quake!” is really all about.

What seismologists know is bound to change, because Southern Californians are living through a time of historic geologic significance--from few earthquakes during most of the century to clusters of them as we reach the millennium. But what scientists are sure of is that the Big One has been something of a distraction, that attention must shift from the San Andreas Fault to those lurking miles directly below our feet.

For those who have been keeping up, “Killer Quake!” doesn’t update the post-Northridge quake news very much. What is revelatory here, though, is the threat posed by the Elysian Fault, a blind-thrust fault coursing straight through Downtown L.A. That it was discovered by oil geologists mapping the area for hidden oil pockets is indicative of the hit-and-miss, unpredictable game of quake sleuthing.

Now that they know of Elysian, seismologists such as James Dolan and Ross Stein (who theorizes on the way stress released by one fault shifts over to another) are trying to find a historic pattern for quakes in the area. What they foresee isn’t good news: A 7-plus-magnitude quake could happen at any time, and Downtown’s steel-reinforced buildings are probably not ready for the shake.

* “Killer Quake!” airs at 8 tonight on KCET-TV Channel 28 and KPBS-TV Channel 15, and at 7 p.m. on KVCR-TV Channel 24.