June 10, 1996: Open Lines | Earthquakes - Charles Watson

Consulting geologist Charles Watson returns to break down a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake that has rocked the Aleutian Islands, triggering thousands of aftershocks and a tsunami warning across Alaska. Watson, a self-described earthquake enthusiast who compares the thrill of seismic events to a kid in a candy store, walks Art Bell through the extraordinary chain of quakes rattling the Pacific plate boundary and explains the alarming uptick in global seismicity throughout 1996.

The discussion turns to the Hayward Fault in California, where creep meters have registered a 2,000-percent surge in soil displacement, and the emerging science of cascade theory, where one earthquake triggers the next in a devastating zipper effect. Watson reveals that top seismologists are quietly discussing the previously unthinkable scenario they call "M God-Awful," a mega-quake along the San Andreas. Art opens phone lines restricted to Alaska and successfully reaches callers from Kodiak Island and the Fox Islands chain who felt the shaking firsthand.

Open lines bring passionate discussions on white supremacist ideology masquerading as Christianity, the devastating Alaska wildfires consuming thousands of acres near Anchorage, and Art's heartfelt advice to an aspiring young broadcaster about staying true to founding principles.