By Sid Perkins
Researchers monitoring small ground motions along faults in Southern California
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/08/584.jpg?resize=150%2C80&ssl=1)
ended up detecting an altogether different phenomenon: the rise and fall of the
ground as local governments pump billions of gallons of water into and out of the