Perhaps I recall that article incorrectly, and it isn't so much the surface geology in California that drives the quake effects deep, but the fact that they originate so far underground that keeps the radius small. I was shocked to learn there was a significant fault here in Virginia. I just don't think of is as being earthquake country, and at the time had lived here for 50 years with this never being on my radar screen. Dominion Electric has a nuclear power plant at the northeast corner of the county. They created a 13,000 acre lake (Lake Anna) and went online in the late 70s. 4,000 acres of the lake serves as a cooling pond, and the other 9,000 acres are populated with about 120 different communities. (All lake frontage is owned by Dominion. You can't build a dock without their permission.) During that 5.8 quake in 2011, one of the huge cooling tanks shifted several inches on its foundation. They shut down one of the reactors for some period of time (weeks-to-months.) The local paper recounted the story that the reactor is built right on top of the fault line!!! It was discovered during construction, and every oversight agency (Federal/state/county) continued to give the green light to construction. Great, huh? Someone should have planted a snail darter and called Greenpeace.
Yeah, the depth kinda relates to the radius of shaking. Is that nuclear power plant you mentioned near Sterling? I had a friend who once lived on a lake there related to a nuclear plant. He thought it was delightful as the water was warm all year.
Thanks for the clarification on the quake depth & radius. I hate spreading bad info. Your friend was likely talking about Lake Anna (about 100 miles south of Sterling.) The only other nuclear plant in the state is in Williamsburg (about 150 miles southeast of Sterling.) Of course, that earthquake rekindled all the "Should we have a nuclear power plant so close to us" debates, but the thing's already here. It's too late. And our attention spans are not all that long. The powers that be know we'll just wind down and go away eventually.
I always have thought that the plants should ring Washington, D. C. and perhaps also the state capitals to ensure everything is operating safely. Three Mile Isalnd was built near Harrisburg. Those pols should have been watching....
The guy I worked for when Three Mile Island had its issue thought we should shut down the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He claimed that no nuclear sub had ever had a reactor accident, and having the NRC's bureaucracy touch things was a net-negative. I didn't argue that even if the military had experienced such an accident, we would likely never hear of it...after all, he was my boss.
I know this is wandering a bit, but I don't believe the Navy has ever had a reactor issue, even though they run the most sophisticated fusion reactors in the world. Russia is much more secret than the U.S. and we know of many issues aboard their ships, and there are probably many more we don't know about. The Army and Air Force nuclear programs were shut down quite early due to incidents with their reactors.
Just had an earthquake in a new location on a fault that runs behind our house--6.1 Richter. Three grandkids staying over, but only two came running out scared. The eldest slept through the whole thing.. No damage, but it lasted 58 seconds, so it was a bit scary. There is also a CME arriving on Tuesday. A friend told me yesterday he though God was really pissed at us.