The Music of the Spheres

At 4:31 AM, January 17, 1994, a previously unknown blind thrust fault under the San Fernando Valley near the town of Northridge ruptured. About twenty seconds later, much of western and northwestern Los Angeles suburbia lay in ruins. Even in Tujunga, where I lived, more than ten miles from the epicenter, the shaking was fierce. I found later that the back bedroom had slid partly off its foundation and then back, and the chimney had broken in half and was held up only by some twisted rebar.

My...