Update: Feds approve disaster relief funding for Astoria Slide
Some of you might remember Astoria Oregon as the picturesque backdrop for the movies Goonies or Kindergarten Cop. But now it might be known for something else: being the most landslide prone city on the northern Pacific coast. (Photo by ALEX PAJUNAS – The Daily Astorian)
Geologists and seismologists have long studied the New Madrid Seismic Zone after three magnitude 8 earthquakes struck the area in the Winter of 1811-1812. However a forthcoming report by Seth Stein and published by the American Geological Society contends the hazard has been overstated. His colleagues at the USGS and the University of Memphis disagree.
On February 27, 2007 a 75-ft wide section of greywacke sandstone failed on the south end of Telegraph Hill, in the very pricey North Beach district of San Francisco. No one was injured, but as many as 120 people were displaced from their homes as city building inspectors red-tagged 7 building effected by the slide.
A traffic camera catches trees and dirt sliding down a hill onto a highway in Portland, Ore. It happened on one of Oregon’s busiest routes – Highway 26, heading out of Portland to the west on March 29. Read on to see the video.
A team of geologists from University of Nevada, Reno have come up with a unique way of assessing seismic hazards – precariously balanced rocks.
The Yakima Herald Republic has an interesting article on volcanic hazards of Mt. Rainier. Apparently the USGS has plans to increase monitoring with additional seismographs, GPS units, and some kind of laser surveying targets. Read on for a link to the article.
Volcanologists at the National Geophysical and Vulcanolgy Institute in Pisa have a new 3D computer simulation model of a Vesuvius eruption that indicates 300,000 people would be killed.
A 330-ft deep sinkhole has opened up in a poor neighborhood in Guatemala City swallowing several houses and killing at least 2 people.
The University of Arizon/USGS Desert Laboratory has been documenting and researching the over 240 slope failures and debris flows in the Southern front of the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson, AZ. At least 18 of these debris flows destroyed or damaged structures or roads.
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