Report shows man's interference may contribute to megaquake

INDIO - Man's interference with Colorado River floods that used to regularly flow to the Salton Sea may have "stopped the clock'' on a regular series of big earthquakes, setting the stage for a megaquake that could wreck Southern California, scientists said today.

A massive 7.5 or larger quake may be the result when the southern San Andreas Fault finally jolts back to life, causing waves of enormous destruction in the Inland Empire and Los Angeles basin, a Scripps Institution of Oceanography study published today said.

The findings were published in the scientific journal "Nature Geoscience.''...