Calif. Nuclear Plant Can Take 7.0 Quake

Jittery Californians watching Japan’s nuclear fallout may not like what they’re hearing: operators of the San Onofre nuclear-power plant, in the southern part of the state, worked Monday to reassure their neighbors that the plant is prepared for a disaster, but they say it was built to withstand a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. That’s a lot less than the 9.0 magnitude quake that hit Japan Friday. A spokesman for the plant said management will “comb through the details of [Japan’s] emergency very carefully, and whatever lessons can and should be applied here will be noted.” San Onofre’s greatest earthquake threat comes from a fault line located about 24 miles offshore. The spokesman also said the plant is protected from a tsunami with a 25-foot seawall.