Trump once said of earthquakes, 'Someday Las Vegas may be the West Coast.' But his budget could kill
Source: Los Angeles Times
Trump once said of earthquakes, 'Someday Las Vegas may be the West Coast.' But his budget could kill key quake safety measure
By Rong-Gong Lin II and Shelby Grad
MAY 26, 2017, 12:40 PM
Back in the 1980s, when Donald Trump was a real estate mogul trying to expand into Los Angeles, he made a startling comment to the Los Angeles Times:
"I'm really concerned with the whole earthquake situation in L.A.," Trump said. "I am a tremendous believer that someday Las Vegas may be the West Coast.”
Trump’s quip aside, the president has said little about publicly about seismic safety, an issue of big concern in California and the West Coast.
But Trump’s budget would cut federal funding for an earthquake early warning system for the West Coast that scientists have been planning for years.
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Bill Leith, the USGS acting associate director for natural hazards, said a decision was made to focus on USGS’ service core capabilities — services that are already offered, rather than a new service such as the earthquake early warning system.
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Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-trump-quakes-20170526-htmlstory.html
