Environment
Oil Drilling Likely Triggered Some of SoCal's Early 20th-Century Earthquakes
Scientists have linked oil and gas exploration to several L.A.-area quakes, including one that led to the passage of earthquake-resistant building codes.
The Los Angeles Basin was (and still is) an incredibly productive oil source. By 1930, it’s thought about 25 percent of the world’s crude originated from the region.
And all that harvesting of oil and natural gas might’ve literally had consequences at the deepest level: Several earthquakes that struck the region in the ‘20s and ‘30s look to have been caused by rampant drilling, according to a new study from U.S. Geological Survey scientists.