[11Bush]

They pave the road the same way we do, on half at a time. This allows traffic to proceed with minimum disruption. However it leaves a seam down the middle. The roadway acted as if it had a strip of adhesive tape on the surface. That allowed the land to shift underneath but it held together along the seam.

[Ramius]

I was wondering something like that. I suppose it’s the only explanation that makes any sense.

[dragnet2]

No, how they designed the roadway had nothing to do with where the earth split or shifted in that area. In an earthquake, the earth will split or shift regardless of where a flimsy 5 inch roadway lies, or how it was designed, or where the center line of that roadway happens to be.

They could have had a 20 story building on that center line, with a solid foundation with no seams, and the earth would have shifted right under it, likely causing it's collapse.