 What initially alerted people to the fault line and the onset of problems?
There was never so much as a landslide to bring the Fault to the attention of the general public. Only Joseph Schwartzberg, head geographer of the Department of the Interior, wondered if the disturbance might not be a settling of the Kiowa Fault. To excuse the other geologists, it must be said that the Kiowa Fault had never acted up before. They found themselves on the scene of what was fast becoming the most violent and widespread earthquake North America—probably the world—has ever seen in historic times. To describe it in the simplest terms, land east of the Fault was settling, and at a precipitous rate. East, where sharp reports and muffled wheezes told of continued buckling and dropping, the earth trembled downward.
 They investigated what they thought was a forest fire, only to find it was sediment and dust.
 Geologists were already aware of its presence and had been watching it.  They investigated what they thought was a forest fire, only to find it was sediment and dust.  The land had become so dry it was a cause of concern.  Newspapers had established the connections of the 3 faults.