European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 7, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday december 7,19b8 the stars and stripes pages geologists find new faults under la. Los Angeles not in a find ing that May unsettle the nerves of Mil Lions of Southern Californi geologists have discovered two major and previously unknown faults deep below some of the most densely developed parts of the los Angeles metropolitan area. The area affected includes the Down town Section the Wilshire Boulevard corridor Beverly Hills Santa Monica and a Complex of Oil refineries and Power utilities near the Pacific Ocean. The discovery along with the gradual realization among geologists that As Many As half of All the faults in the Losarik Iti area May lie deep underground and have yet to he discovered presumably doubles the risk Hal a devastating earthquake will eventually occur in the metropolitan area said Don Anderson director of the seismology Laboratory atthe California in Stulc of technology. But scientists do not know enough about these faults 10 calculate the actual risk. Stale disaster officials who have Bee aware of the new findings for months said that in their planning they have Long anticipated the possibility of such an event. They said los Angeles not be unduly alarmed by the Dis covery of the faults. Uni Lite the Region s previously known faults which produce features on the Earth s surface the new faults arc in the basement and have no visible feature sat ground level according to or. Egill Mausson a research assistant professor of geophysics at the University of South Ern California. Hacks son is scheduled to give a report on tuesday describing the faults which Are 6 to 10 Miles beneath the streets of los Angeles at a session of the american geophysical Union Annua meeting Insan Francisco. This is the first evidence that there arc major buried faults beneath l.a.," Hacks son said in a recent interview before we had one big fault locally the Newport Inglewood fault and now we have three. Tic san Andreas fault estimated Mohave a 60 percent probability of generating a catastrophic earthquake in South pm California within the next 30 years lies 30 or More Miles North and East of the los Angeles metropolitan area. The son Andreas which is much larger than the various faults in the immediate Losangeles area is believed capable of producing a much More powerful Earth quake. Scientists believe the newly discovered faults will cause serious earthquakes much less frequently than the san an Dreas Faux. Or. Richard Andrews Deputy director of the governor s office of emergency services who is responsible for oversee ing earthquake planning in Southern California said residents of he los an Geles area should not worry that officials Are unprepared to Cope with potential dangers from the new faults. For several years now he said disaster preparedness officials have assumed that unknown faults capable of generating moderately severe earthquakes could exist anywhere in los Angeles. Firefight ers police officer and medical response teams arc ready for such an event he added. Nevertheless in earlier written reports on seismic hazards Andrews and others have noted that faults lying close to densely populated areas posed special risks. They have warned for example thai a rupture of the Newport Englc Woodfaulk a 40-mile surface fracture running through Many populated neighbourhoods could rupture Gas lines and to a fire storm that might kill and injure More people than would a larger earthquake on the Man Distant san Andreas fault. Over he med Bank Board studies land a Veway by the Washington Post Washington the Federal Home backboard May give away land it can t sell in Texas and other hard hit real estate markets just to get the prop erty off the Agency s hands Bank Board chairman m. Danny Wall said monday. Before such a Radical step is considered Congre swill have to give the Bank Board adequate resources to handle the crisis in the savings and Industry Wail said. The Bank Board regulates a is and insures accounts up to $ 100,000. Records a failures since the Early 1980s have drained the Bank Board s resources and left the Agency holding Al least $ 14 billion in Homes shopping centers vacant land and other repossessed property. Once Congress and the while House decide How much Money to give the bunk Board to close or merge hundreds of additional ailing a is the Agency will have enough Cash to absorb inc loss incurred by giving away land it cannot sell Wall said. Giving away land might seem extreme. Wall said but inc inventory of repossessed real estate in the government s hands has grown so Large thai inc idea is unattractive alternative to the Cost of holding the prop erty and trying to sell it Wall said. In an interview. Wall also said he shares a growing concern in the Home tending Industry about suicide Loans adjustable Rale Home mortgages that a Sarc offering at such Low rates thai they never May earn a profit. According to estimates by the mortgage Bank ers association at least half of the adjustable Rale Loans being made by a is result in a Long term Well said that the Loans Are not a problem yet Butl hat in May be a problem in the institutions make such joans in the Hope of gaining Market share in an increasingly competitive Home Market such As California. Savings and institutions folic losses failed institutions texas$3q,24 California 9.36 Illinois 2.31 Florida 2.25 new York 1.61 Louisiana 1.58 Oklahoma 1.51 Arizona 1.24 states wit greatest est fro Ted folic insolvency losses in billions of dollars Asol dec. 31,1987 go _ in number of folic insured. 80 institutions. 70. 60so- 40. 30 20 10 01980 81 82 83 64 85 86 87 Chicago Tribune Chart source Ely and co. Me. Critics of such tactics however worry thai the gain sin Market share will not compensate for losses that institutions Are Likely to incur. And Wall conceded the government could end up paying the Bill for these Loans if they to failures of additional a is. Wall said that a year ago the Bank Board began moving away from a policy of turning repossessed property Over to its subsidiary the Federal asset Dis position association to manage. Instead he said the Bank Board has been putting the management of these properties in inc private sector whenever possible. The association has not been Given a new contract to manage Bank Board property in a year he said. But some private companies said they have see Little evidence of the new policy. They said that while the association has not been Given new contracts it hat been Given new properties to manage under existing contracts in recent directors have predicted that the unit would be sold to the private sector by year s end. Association president Gerald p. Carmen and director Ger Ald Levy have denied reports that Carmen is Amon the investors being considered but some Industry sources said such a Deal could be completed this a plan would need the approval of the Bank Board. Wall said lie had no idea what action the association will recommend that the Bank Board take. Sands of time in the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. Dec. .7, 1948 results of the municipal election in inc Western sectors of Berlin in which 8 j percent of eligible voters cast their ballots gave an overwhelming majority to the anti communist social democratic party.30 years ago today. Dec. 7. 1958 the Leonardo a Vinci a 32,000-ton luxury liner built in an italian shipyard was launched into the Mediterranean sea amidst a chorus Fehners 20 years ago Roday. Dec. 7, 1968 Bernd bowl Tiger a 28-year-old East German lifeguard and musician escaped to Denmark across inc Bailie sea in his homemade ?0 years ago today dec/7, 1978 hundreds of americans and other foreigners fled Iran after 15 protesters demonstrating against the Shah were killed by police gunfire. Dod chemical arms program draws e n v i r 6 n m Enfa list s u it Washington not an environmental group on monday hied a suit that accuses the defense department of providing inadequate safeguards in it chemical weapons program. It asked a Federal court to halt the entire program including production of the first new chemical bomb since the 1960s, and to order exhaustive environmental studies. The suit filed in Federal District court cited a de sense department report thai said the staff Organiza Tion supervision and regulation of safely programs a storage Sites for chemical weapons arc inadequate. The report written by the army inspector general s office in june said chemical safety has slipped through a ,.-.- while an army spokesman maj Richard Bridges would not comment on the lawsuit s specific allegations he said the army is and remains committed to both the environment and safety. 1 think we have made big strides Over the past decade and will continue to do everything in our Power to maintain the safest possible working atmosphere for soldiers and the safest possible atmosphere for communities that surround militaryinstallations."1 Bridges said the army had started to address the inspector general s recommendations hiring More safety professionals and working to publish safely regulations. The lawsuit was filed by the foundation on eco nomic trends and in president Jeremy Rifle n. The foundation has initiated a number of successful suit against the biological warfare program forcing the de sense department to make environmental studies an blocking construction of a. Cychler to study biological agents in aerosol form,.potentially the most deadly kind. .".-. " the new lawsuit accuses the defense department of violating the National environmental Protection act by not assessing the Impact on the environment before starting research or production or building storage areas., " " a the suit asks tic court to halt All research into and production of chemical weapons and to forbid the Pentagon from destroying old ones until those studies arc completed
