Los Angeles is heading toward the San Francisco Bay Area. The existence of the North American and Continental Plates was the major scientific discovery of the last decade, and the theory that resulted has several names: continental drift, sea-floor spreading, and plate tectonics. The big question is when the next big tremor will occur. In 1975, the Chinese successfully predicted a 7.3 earthquake; this massive effort involved about ten thousand workers. In the United States prediction efforts are focused in California and Alaska. Hamilton discusses earthquake-resistant construction, wise land use that avoids faults, government responsibilities, and loss of life in an earthquake. This year (1976) was a bad year for earthquakes, and earthquakes are disasters that are inevitable.