Fault Lines
Year of Discovery: 1911
What Is It? Earthquakes happen both along, and because of, fault lines in the
earth’s crust.
Who Discovered It? Harry Reid
Why Is This One of the 100 Greatest?
Scientists now know that they can predict the locations of future earthquakes by mapping the locations of fault lines. However, just a century ago this simple truth was not
known.
Harry Reid’s discovery that earthquakes happen along existing fault lines provided the
first understanding of the source and process of earthquakes. This discovery laid the foundation for the discovery of Earth’s crustal plates and p