The Otay Mesa was the last the six oilmen saw of the United States.
The navy-blue van pulled into a low-slung warehouse. The oilmen were ushered downstairs and instructed to walk through a tunnel.
The fluorescent tubes flickered in a maniacal rhythm. The whir of the ventilation stirred up unsettling thoughts which ranged from seismic activity to slipshod construction.
Given what the oilmen assumed were the economics of the tunnel, they figured the risks of a temblor were greater than those of an engineering failure.
They had little to worry about concerning seismic activity on the Otay Mesa.
They didn’t know it was riskier in downtown San Diego, where the Rose Canyon Fault curls along the coast.
