Geologic Hazards

Geologic Hazards

More Movement on La Jolla Landslide

January 20, 2008 rockman Comments Off on More Movement on La Jolla Landslide

For those of you following the landslide in residential La Jolla California known as the Soledad Mountain Road landslide, it made the news again a couple days ago when a section of the slide re-activated and slid 10-ft down the hill. Doesn’t sound like too big of a deal to me, no additional houses damaged. I’m curious how it related to the shear pins they installed a couple of months ago.

Additionally, the San Diego City Attorney has released a report detailing the sequence of events leading up to the landslide. One interesting note is that the Mayor of San Diego is in hot water with the City Attorney’s office for hiring outside legal council to handle the legal aspects of the landslide. According to the City Attorney’s office, he wasn’t allowed to do that, but so far the City Attorney hasn’t stepped in to force the outside attorney(s) to drop the case saying it would open the City up to even more liability.

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Geologic Hazards

New White Paper on Earth Fissures

December 14, 2007 rockman Comments Off on New White Paper on Earth Fissures

The Arizona Land Subsidence Group (ALSG) has just released a white paper entitled "Land Subsidence and Earth Fissures in Arizona". More details after the break. (Photo courtesy of NCS Consultants, LLC)

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Geologic Hazards

Massive Landslide in B.C. Triggers Tsunami in Lake

December 12, 2007 rockman Comments Off on Massive Landslide in B.C. Triggers Tsunami in Lake

A massive landslide triggered a 2 meter plus high wave at a lake in British Columbia. The resulting wave wiped out massive full grown cedar trees all along the lake and could have an environmental impact by damming up a stream that flows from the lake and also impacting fish populations. Apparently salmon migrate through this lake also. Video coverage after the break. (Photo by CBCNews.ca)

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Geologic Hazards

Landslide at Traunsee Lake in Austria

December 4, 2007 Wolfgang Fritz Comments Off on Landslide at Traunsee Lake in Austria

The people living on the eastern bank of the Traunsee (map on following page) in Austria are able to observe geology in motion these days. About one million tons of soil and rock are moving in a slow landslide toward the lake, throwing over trees (picture at left) and threatening to take parts of a village with them. More… 

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Geologic Hazards

Kilauea Volcano: Examining Hazards from Latest Redirected Flow Event

December 3, 2007 rockman Comments Off on Kilauea Volcano: Examining Hazards from Latest Redirected Flow Event

In July of 2007, The Big Island’s Kilauea began eruting approximately 500,000 cubic meters of lava a day in a direction that has not previously seen lava flows. Most importantly, the northeasterly direction of flow takes it towards Pahoa Village, 11 miles from the erupting fissure but still possibly at risk. Read on for more. (USGS Photo)

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Geologic Hazards

Java Mud Volcano: Economic Damages Estimated $8.6 Billion

November 29, 2007 rockman Comments Off on Java Mud Volcano: Economic Damages Estimated $8.6 Billion

The Java mud volcano continues to erupt at the same pace as before, showing no signs of stopping. Indonesia’s national planning agency has put the economic damages at $334 million a month and says the final bill could be as high as $8.6 billion. There are a number of environmental impacts as well since the mud is contaminated with heavy metals, benzene and sulfur dioxide. More…

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Geologic Hazards

ASCE: Cease and Desist over Video Spoof

November 19, 2007 rockman Comments Off on ASCE: Cease and Desist over Video Spoof

The American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE sent a cease and desist letter to the owner of the Levees.Org website notifying them to remove a video spoof of its post-Katrina levee inspection. Of course, through the wonders of the internet, Levees.org removed it from YouTube, but someone else posted it again. And because of all the fuss, it’s more popular than it would have been otherwise with over 16,000 views at the time of this post. Click through to watch it.

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Geologic Hazards

Anniversary of Loma Prieta Earthquake – USGS Warns of Hayward Fault

November 1, 2007 rockman Comments Off on Anniversary of Loma Prieta Earthquake – USGS Warns of Hayward Fault

October 17 was the 18th anniversary of the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake that struck the Bay area.  But a recent story by the Bay Area’s local ABC affiliate, ABC7, chose to focus on another earthquake, a 1868 earthquake of about the same magnitude that occurred on the Hayward Fault. According to the USGS, the Hayward Fault has a return period of about 140-years and  "It’s the most heavily urbanized fault in the U.S. and it’s just waiting to go off…" Next year will be the 140-th anniversary of the last earthquake on the Hayward Fault. At some point it has the potential to be a very bad earthquake there. More after the break. (Photo by sanbeiji)

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Geologic Hazards

CA Licensed Professionals Needed in Evacuation Areas

October 29, 2007 rockman Comments Off on CA Licensed Professionals Needed in Evacuation Areas

A call for volunteers has been made on behalf of Governor Schwarzenegger by way of the California Department of Consumer Affairs website as reported by AEG. They are looking for professionals registered by the California Boards of Geology and Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors as well as a number of other boards. Read on for the full announcement. 

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