Geologic Hazards

Sidoarjo Mud Volcano 2 year Anniversary

On May 29, 2006, the Sidoarjo mud volcano began erupting between 7,000 and 150,000 cubic meters of mud per day and it presently has no signs of stopping. A new report by scientists from Indonesia’s Institute of Technology Bandung and the UK University of Durham set to be published in the journal GSA Today confirms the early UN Report that an oil drilling rig was the cause of the disaster that has displaced an estimated 30,000 people. The report also indicates that the volcano, now named Lusi, could potentially collapse by as much as 146 meters (why not round that huh?). They say that the weight of the mud has already caused ground subsidence on the order of 14 meters near the center.

Images show the source of the mud flow, before and after. Acquired and processed by CRISP, National University of Singapore IKONOS image © CRISP 2004

Reuters story by way of Geology.com. See the University of Durham news release also. For a summary of the first year and the formation of the volcano, see my original post on the topic.

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Geologic Hazards

Pittsburgh Area Has 49 Active Landslides

The Pittsburgh area has  49 active landslides or retaining wall failures in 29 neighborhoods according to a Pittsburgh Public Works Department survey. The estimated cost to fix 24 of those issues effecting public land is $7.4 million, which the City doesn’t have. Story source: Pittsburgh Live by way of Geology.com. (Map by BOB NEWELL/TRIBUNE-REVIEW)

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Geologic Hazards

Sichuan Earthquake Update

[Updated May 30, 2008] I forgot to publish this post to the front page, whoops! The two links still have excellent information. In particular, Dave’s Landslide Blog has coverage of the many landslide lakes and the efforts to breach some of them. [/Update]

The latest numbers according to AFP, Worldwide News Agency, is 71,000 dead, missing or buried and over 5 million homeless. There were many victims that were buried by landslides and rockfall. In the past few days 200 rescue workers have been buried by mudslides.

For more coverage on landslides related to the earthquake, I recommend Dave’s Landslide Blog. Geology.com also has very comprehensive coverage as well. (AFP Photo)

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Geologic Hazards

Chaiten Volcano, Chile

Since Friday May 2, the Chaiten Volcano in Chile has been erupting steam and ash in a most spectacular fashion for the first time since 7400 BC. The column of ash and steam rose over 17 km high and drifted over the Andes Mountains into Argentina and over the Atlantic. The terrestrial and aerial/satelite imagery of this event is amazing and frightening. Geology.com has an excellent page covering the latest info on the Chaiten  eruption.

There is concern now that the energy of the volcano has leveled off and a collapse of the ash column could happen at any time creating a pyroclastic flow of super-heated ash and vapors much like the one that buried Pompei. The photo at the left is of a lightning storm interacting with the dust and steam from the erruption, it looks like armageddon! (Photo by Carlos Gutierrez / UPV / Landov)

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Geologic Hazards

China Earthquake Coverage

The regular news media as well as the geo-blogosphere are all abuzz about Monday’s 7.9 magnitude earthquake in central China. Official death toll is at 12,000 right now and that’s in Sichuan Province alone.  My guess is that number will swell substantially in the coming days. If you haven’t seen photos and video yet, they are absolutely gut-wrenching. My heart and prayers go out to the victims of this disaster. (Photo by Liu Hai, AP)

Several geo-bloggers have posts about the earthquake. Harold Asmis of Ontario-GeoFish describes the earthquake as a "big valley-thrust earthquake" or what he calls the "Fist of God". Dave’s Landslide Blog has started compiling reports of landslides related to the earthquake in this landslide prone region of China. And here is the USGS info on the earthquake.

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Geologic Hazards

105th Anniversary of Frank Landslide

Fellow geo-blogger David Petley of Durham University posted today about the 105th anniversary of the Frank Landslide in Canada. The slide had an estimated volume of 30 million cubic meters and took all of about […]

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Geologic Hazards

Earth Fissures in the News

Arizona State Geologist Lee Allison blogged about some recent news coverage of earth fissures as a result of the AZGS’ release of the first of their earth fissure maps. Here is what he said:

The East Valley Tribune published an extensive set of news features on earth fissures in their Sunday edition, including timeline, maps, videos, and an animation of how fissures form.

KPHO, CBS channel 5 in Phoenix, also has a nice video segment with great aerial shots of the 2005 fissure in Chandler Heights that triggered the recent interest in this hazard.

Here is the video he was referring to.

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Geologic Hazards

Arizona Geologic Survey Releases Earth Fissure Maps

Yesterday the Arizona Geologic Survey (AZGS) released the first two of their 1:12,000 series earth fissure maps to the general public. The mapping program, perhaps the first of its kind in the country, came about after an earth fissures opened up in 2005 near Queen Creek, AZ, southeast of metropolitan Phoenix received much media attention. As a result, the Arizona Legislature passed House Bill 2639 of the 2006 Legislative Session that tasked the AZGS with mapping earth fissures and providing the data to the State Land Department for eventual delivery to property owners in Arizona. More after the break. (At left, the Apache Junction study area map, AZGS) 

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Geologic Hazards

Landslide on Arizona SR 87 Closes Highway

On March 21, 2008 a landslide caused the closure of Arizona State Route 87 between Payson and Phoenix near mile post 224. So far there are no official estimates as to the size, but based on aerial photos, it appears to be at least 50,000 sq-ft in plan. The offset at the head scarps was approximately 2-meters (6.6-ft) according to AZGS Geologists on site. It appears to have been a rotational slide as the toe of the landslide heaved the southbound roadway up by as much as 1-meter (3.3 ft). There was an existing soil-nail retaining wall on the slope that was destroyed by the slide as well.  Lateral deformations can be seen in photos of the median barrier and the roadway striping. The deformations extended into the northbound lanes as well. More photos and links after the break. (Photo by ADOT)

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