38 REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE COMMISSION. 
fault could be made to approach each other in the region of solid rock at a distance 
below the surface, but it is quite possible that the more unconsolidated material near 
the surface might be shaken together by the earthquake. An illustration of this may 
perhaps be found in the compression of the fence and the sagging of the telephone wire 
which cross the causeway dam between the Crystal Spring Lakes, approximately at 
right angles to the fault (vol. 1, p. 102). 
The shortening of the railway track by 7 inches between Wright and Alma (vol. 1, 
p. 110), a distance of 5 miles, can hardly be referred to distributed shear; the track has 
many curves and runs in places by the sides of steep mountain slopes; and a slight 
shaking down of the roadbed in places might straighten the track sufficiently to shorten 
it by this small amount. 
