Gee, things are pretty active in the world. Coincidence? I don't think the M8 then 7.6 is 100% coincidence. Now there is a 5.1 right-lateral on east side Owens Valley, Central California, with lots of aftershocks. Go to link and then scroll down until you get to the aerial (or is it satellite?) photo (image?). You can see a lineament that projects towards epicenter. This could be a fault, or it could be just onlap of basin fill onto older rocks.

There is a similar debate about an underwater lineament in Marmara Sea offshore Istanbul, within the North Anatolian fault system. It has been published repeatedly as a fault, but L. Seeber and I agree that it is onlap of the basin sediments onto older rocks to the south (is south flank Cinarcik basin). This is published in Seeber et al., 2006, "Geology".

OIn the case of the California quake, it is a little easier to investigate and it is probably known whether it is a fault or not.

Chris

• location maps M5.1 Owens Valley