Geologic Hazards

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

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

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

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

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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Geologic Hazards

Soledad Mountain Road Landslide Update

Residents of approximately 75 of the 111 homes evacuated after the slide have been allowed back into their homes.  The City of San Diego is not wasting any time in determining the cause of the slide. The first of three 100-ft deep exploration shafts was excavated on Friday, and a Forensic Geologist from a firm hired by the City was sent down the hole to observe geology conditions and to locate the actual slip surface. Also, claims of leaking City water and/or sewer pipes prior to the failure have begun to surface. More details in the full post. (Photo by NELVIN CEPEDA / San Diego Union-Tribune)

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Geologic Hazards

Landslide Occurs in Residential La Jolla California

A landslide occured about 9am PT yesterday in a residential neighborhood of La Jolla, just north of San Diego. No injuries have been reported, but estimates are that 2,500 people are without either power or gas because of toppled power lines and ruptured gas lines. The Soledad Mountain Road is currently impassable. I’ll update this post as more information becomes available. In the mean time, check out some video and a  location map after the break.

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Geologic Hazards

Utah Geologic Hazards Group Finishes Report

As we mentioned in a previous post, the State of Utah had experienced several slope failures in approved, permitted subdivisions. Those failures prompted the governor to form the Geologic Hazards Working Group (GHWG) to evaluate […]