Japan was prepared for an earthquake of more than 7.0 magnitude, but when it got hit with a 9.0 earthquake last March, the quake and resulting tsunami left devastation in their wake.

With that in mind, KQED TV’s “Quest” series presents its new “Earthquake Special,” updating West Coast efforts to detect and predict quakes, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, on San Francisco’s Channel 9.

The 30-minute special examines the dynamics of the forces at work beneath the earth’s crust, and explores how human engineering activity can cause earthquakes.

Using a mixture of colorful graphic techniques to enhance the documentary, the show includes footage at the Geysers geothermal power plant along the Sonoma and Lake County border, and interviews with researchers from the University Washington in Seattle and UC Berkeley.

Here are live links to the special, by segment:

http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/megathrust-earthquakes/

http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/induced-seismicity-man-made-earthquakes/

http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/the-shaking-table-at-uc-berkeley/