The local radio station—KFLT 101.7, “The Voice of the High Desert”—had already declared the midnight rumble an earthquake, though Silver Flats hadn’t felt so much as a tremor in half a century. The morning DJ read the report with the cheerful certainty of someone who had never once questioned an official explanation: “Just a little shake-up, folks—nothing to worry about. Probably some settling in the old mine shafts. Keep those coffee mugs steady!” The grocery store parking lot was alive with gossip:
