Fortunately, New Mexico has low seismicity, but it only takes this one earthquake. \\"More than\\" \\"previously thought\\" implies that knowledge of the fault is not new. Classically amazing! In New Mexico, USA, a state with relatively low seismicity, the laboratory is built on a fault that could rupture causing a major earthquake! Let\'s hope ruptures of this fault have a very long recurrence interval. - Sandi
Federal experts believe that a major earthquake could trigger fires at Los Alamos National Laboratory, releasing radioactive materials and endangering lives. The rupture of a seismic fault that runs underneath the lab would shake the ground more than scientists previously thought, according to a new report (PDF). A natural disaster here would be bad news, since the lab, just west of Santa Fe, is the main plutonium factory in the United States, believed to hold thousands of pounds of plutonium for use in nuclear weapons (the actual amount is classified).
Please see article in Discover Magazine:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/8...-could-release-plutonium-from-los-alamos-lab/
