California Overdue for Another Megaquake

Preparing for the Next "Big One"

(CBS) THE BIG ONE is California shorthand for an earthquake that can be predicted with certainty but not much precision . . . and therefore can only be prepared for imprecisely. Our Cover Story is reported by now by John Blackstone: Last Thursday, millions of people in California took shelter under tables and desks, protecting themselves from an earthquake . . . an imaginary one.

...David L. Ulin, who wrote about how Californians cope with earthquakes in "The Myth of Solid Ground," said the "Big One" could be 40-50 times as destructive as the Northridge quake. "For anyone who's lived through the Northridge quake, that's an unimaginable kind of circumstance," he said.