Geologic Hazards

Earth Fissures on Phoenix PBS Affiliate “Horizon” Show

Phoenix Arizona’s PBS affiliate, KAET-TV, Channel 8 had a segment on Earth Fissures on their May 30th episode of "Horizons". They interviewed one resident of the Chandler Heights area that has problems with earth fissures on her property. They also interviewed Todd Shippman with the AZGS in the field. Todd is the project manager for the AZGS’ earth fissure mapping program. The bulk of the program was an interview with Lee Allison, the head of the AZGS and the Arizona State Geologist. He explains the earth fissure mapping program, and the planning scale maps that were just released this week on the AZGS Website. Click through for embedded video of the segment from the Horizon Website. You can also download it as a podcast if you wish. (Photo courtesy of NCS Consultants, LLC.)

[…]

No Picture
Geologic Hazards

Allstate to Stop Underwriting Houses in California

Allstate Insurance company will no longer be underwriting houses effective in July. No changes will occur for existing customers. The move is supposedly to "limit its exposure to catastrophe" such as earthquakes. Allstate has also […]

Geologic Hazards

Utah Considers Stricter Rules for Development in Landslide Prone Areas

The Utah Governer’s Geologic Hazards Working Group, which includes no one from the private sector, is considering some model legislation that can be adopted by cities and counties to make it more difficult for developers to build in landslide prone areas. Also, among other things, the group may recommend that Utah adopt stricter grading requirements based on the experiences of California. Read on for more info.

[…]

Geologic Hazards

Machu Picchu at risk from Landslides

The world famous archaeological site, Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes Mountains may be at risk from landslides. A paper published by three Japanese researchers describes their field work and instrumentation of the site and their analyses. Read on for more info. (Photo by Jungle_Boy

[…]

Geologic Hazards

Assessment of Volcanic Hazard in Yellowstone

[Update 5/10/07] A small swarm of  earthquakes measuring up to 2.7 on the Richter Scale was recorded in the Yellowstone area on  Wed. May 2, 2007 [/Update]

The USGS has released an Open File Report (OFR) entitled Preliminary Assessment of Volcanic and Hydrothermal Hazards in Yellowstone National Park and Vicinity. Possible future violent events in the active hydrothermal, magmatic, and tectonic system of Yellowstone National Park pose potential hazards to park visitors and infrastructure. Most of the national park and vicinity are sparsely populated, but significant numbers of people as well as park resources could nevertheless be at risk from these hazards. Read on for the link.

[…]

Geologic Hazards

Europe’s Nuclear Waste Connundrum

The German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources on Wednesday released a report indicating that a large chunk of northern Germany, and a bit of the south as well, is geologically suitable for the indefinite storage of highly radioactive nuclear waste. Read more for details.

[…]