New quake faults uncovered west of Lake Tahoe | News

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Scientists studying earthquake faults in the mountains west of Lake Tahoe say new high-resolution imaging technology has uncovered more substantial seismic hazards than previously believed.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the steep, fault-formed range west of the lake could generate earthquakes with magnitudes from 6.3 to 6.9.

It also warns they could trigger landslides along the whole Tahoe-Sierra frontal fault zone stretching from west of Truckee Calif., to the south end of Tahoe -- through the middle of Squaw Valley USA ski resort, Emerald Bay and Fallen Leaf Lake.

Researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno; Cal-Berkeley and Army Corps of Engineers helped with the new technology is known as bare-earth airborne LiDAR -- Light Detection and Ranging. It offers a look at tectonic activity obscured by vegetation.