Fractured: A Disaster Thriller by Bobby Akart

Author:Bobby Akart [Akart, Bobby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crown Publishers Inc.
Published: 2023-07-19T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

USGS

Santa Rosa, California

Mac was pleased to have a change of clothing and a bottle of Advil. He sucked down a couple of Red Bulls to get his caffeine fix. While he waited in the small conference room for his team to arrive, he contemplated what he’d experienced the past week. The concept of earthquake prediction was something no seismologist could keep out of the forefront of their minds. After any major earthquake, usually the second question asked after why did this happen was why wasn’t it predicted?

Mac pitied the personnel who were sent out to the media room to deal with the demands for answers. It was the same every time. If he really wanted to get into hot water with his boss, he’d explain it this way.

This isn’t like predicting the weather, he’d begin. Weather is something we can all see. Heck, with advanced space satellites monitoring the Earth, we can see the weather systems and provide coordinates minute by minute. Even then, we can make weather forecasts, but they are frequently wrong.

An earthquake fault is like a wooden yardstick. You can slowly bend it. The tension on some part of the yardstick grows. The wood begins to lose its structural integrity. You know, at some point, the yardstick will snap.

But when? But where? Will it break at the exact middle, eighteen inches from either end. Will the snap be a clean break, or will it splinter?

An earthquake is not all that different. The fault strains until it breaks. Nobody knows precisely when. Sure, advanced technology can raise alarms, but never in time to make a real difference in saving lives.

A Nobel laureate in physics once said, “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” This absolutely applied to earthquake prediction.

Yet Mac considered all the signs. The theories he’d had about earthquake weather had been roundly criticized. However, he was never dissuaded from believing the massive lake created by the ARkStorm had a profound effect on the geology of California, including San Andreas. If he was right, that these geologic signs were just a precursor to something much larger, he could issue warnings of his own. Unfortunately, he was in uncharted territory here. His only hope was to take his working theory and find the evidence to support it. There were plenty of other people in the building looking at monitors to react to the Big One. He wanted to confirm it was coming and soon.

The entire team had assembled in the room, pouring themselves mugs of coffee as they prepared for a long day and evening. Mac was a notorious workaholic, and concussion notwithstanding, he’d most likely keep them studying the data until he got the answers he wanted.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I handpicked y’all because I know two things. You’re good at your jobs, and you have open minds.” Mac paused as he leaned against the table set up at the front of the room. The personnel from IT, which was an archaic acronym for

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