Southern California has been shaken by two recent earthquakes. The way they were experienced in Los Angeles has a lot to do with the sediment-filled basin the city sits upon.
Los Angeles sits above an enormous bowl of sediment that alters how seismic waves move under the city
Imagine the Los Angeles basin as a giant bowl of jelly – the mountains and underlying rock make up the bowl, while the sediment is represented by the gelatinous mixturethat caused the Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and resulting tsunami on Boxing Day 2004. "The farther it goes, the longer lasts, and the more energy that's released.
During an earthquake, seismic waves are modulated by geology, says John Vidale, professor of seismology at University of Southern California. "The primary factor is just how hard is the ground and how deep is the structure that has soft near the surface," he says. Seismic waves will move faster in denser material like rock, versus softer and less dense sediment.
In addition to amplification, seismic waves can also reverberate within a sediment-filled basin. Think back to that shaking bowl of jelly and how the flopping top bounces off the sides of the bowl.
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