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America’s Most Dangerous Fault
Posted on Monday, March 31, 2008 @ 10:27 pm by Dave Schumaker
I was going through some old emails from last week and found a press release from the USGS about America’s most dangerous fault; the Hayward fault.
According to a recent study by the USGS and Risk Management Solutions, a M6.8 earthquake on the Hayward Fault could produce upwards of $165 billion dollars, even more expensive than damage and economic losses from Hurricane Katrina.
A sidewalk and curb in Hayward, California offset by aseismic slip along the Hayward Fault.
Image Credit: Dave Schumaker
In marked contrast to Hurricane Katrina where uninsured losses were approximately 60 to 70 percent of total economic losses, more than 95 percent of projected Hayward Fault earthquake residential losses and 85 percent of commercial losses will be uninsured.
“Bay Area residents, businesses and local governments need to take action now to reduce future losses. The public understands this and has repeatedly supported bond measures for well-planned seismic upgrade projects, such as the ongoing retrofit of BART and the Hetch Hetchy system,” said Mary Lou Zoback, earthquake expert from RMS.
“Public and private organizations have already invested over $30 billion to retrofit or replace vulnerable buildings and infrastructure, but more needs to be done,” said Tom Brocher, seismologist with the USGS. Until the Bay Bridge and BART undergo major retrofits, they remain vulnerable to earthquakes and more than 180,000 daily commuters who currently use them could face having to take overtaxed alternate routes for months. Similarly, until the Hetch Hetchy aqueduct system upgrade is complete, earthquake-related activity could cut off water for 2.4 million Bay Area residents, according to a recent report by the Bay Area Economic Forum.
As someone who actively chooses to live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area, this thought is a daily occurrence as I walk through the streets of San Francisco. There is definitely a lot that needs to be done to mitigate potential damage. One of the first that comes to mind is that San Francisco should get off its butt and change it’s fire hydrant connections to the statewide standard. Ridiculous.
Upgrading to WordPress 2.5
Posted on Monday, March 31, 2008 @ 4:13 pm by Dave Schumaker
This weekend, the latest version of WordPress was released. That’s what powers the backend of our site here at Geology News and I’m excited test it out and put it into action. So far, so good! New features include a revamped dashboard to make it easier to manage the content on your website, as well as embedded photo galleries and an improved media manager. Supposedly, it is even faster as well.
Upgrading from WordPress 2.3.3 to 2.5 was flawless, thanks in part to the amazing WordPress Automatic Upgrade Plugin. Never leave home without it folks.
Climbing Mt. Saint Helens
Posted on Monday, March 31, 2008 @ 10:51 am by Dave Schumaker
A few years ago, I started planning a trip to hike around and climb up Mt. Saint Helens. Then in October of 2004, the volcano rumbled back to life and the Forest Service closed access to the volcano.
Despite the ongoing rumblings beneath the mountain, the Forest Service reopened access in 2006. Hugo Martin of the Chicago Tribune recently took a trip to the summit of Mt. Saint Helens and looked inside the massive crater.
Image credit: Forest Service
The first climber of our party clears the boulder field about 11 a.m. Now we start up a steep gravel path to the crater’s edge about a quarter of a mile ahead. Up here, the air is bitter cold and the wind whips fine rocks and sand in my face.
“Oh, yeah!” The shout comes from the first hiker of our group to reach the top.
A Cartoon - Chasers
Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2008 @ 9:22 pm by Dave Schumaker
For those of you who don’t know the website xkcd.com, I’m sorry. It’s a semi daily comic run by Randall Munroe that deals with science, math, language and general geek humor themes. The latest comic is even earth science related.
You might even say that Mr. Munroe has an obsession with velociraptors as well. Or a problem. Regardless, check out the webpage and go back through some of the comics. They’re quite good.
Geology Picture of the Day - Ash Cloud at Kilauea
Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2008 @ 11:30 am by Dave Schumaker
I thought I’d continue the theme of volcanoes and Hawaii by featuring this photo taken yesterday at the Halema’uma’u Crater on Kilauea.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has more pictures and information.