GEN-ERIC News

A California researcher says Los Angeles is in the midst of a 1,000-year seismic lull characterized by relatively small and infrequent earthquakes. The report, published in the September issue of Geology, suggests seismic activity alternates between the Los Angeles basin and the Mojave Desert, which is in a seismically active period. James Dolan, associate professor of earth sciences at the University of Southern California, said the Northridge earthquake of 1994 was a drop in the bucket compared to the massive jolts that would strike the basin during a period of high seismic activity. The past 1,000 years has been relatively quiet, Dolan said Friday in a release.