In the early morning hours on January 17th, 1994 a very violent tremble took place across Los Angeles, California area that left fifty-seven people dead, more than 7,000 injured, more than 20,000 homeless and left over 40,000 buildings damaged. Around 4:30 a.m. a horrific 6.7 magnitude earthquake, that tested building codes and earthquake-resistant construction, shook Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Orange Counties with the most intense damage occurring in Sherman Oaks and Northridge. The earthquake caused several bridges and overpasses to collapse closing sections of the Santa Monica Freeway, Simi Valley Freeway, Golden State Freeway, and the Antelope Valley Freeway. There were also several fire outbreaks throughout the San Fernando Valley, Malibu, and Venice area because of underground gas lines that had been ruptured during the earthquake that caused additional damage. The 6.7 magnitude earthquake was felt throughout most of southern California and as far away as Utah and Mexico with a max acceleration of 1.0g in several different areas and the highest at Tarzana with a recorded value of 1.8g. The earthquake also deformed over 1500 square miles of the Earth’s crust, forcing the surface upward in a dome shape. The Susana Mountains sustained the most soil deformation with an uplift of around 15cm causing numerous rockslides, blocking many roadways. Soil liquefaction was observed in the Simi Valley area and other parts of the Los Angeles Basin. After all the term oil ended the preliminary cost estimate of damage was between 15 and 20 billion U.S. dollars. Today, Geologists remain to search for thrust faults throughout the southern California area by using a 3 dimensional modeling system to view folds and upli... ... middle of paper ... ... although we may never be able to understand exactly what soil failures can occur when a natural disasters take place, as time goes on and testing instruments and materials advance we will hopefully have a better understanding of what we can do to avoid soil failures and come up with a better and more sufficient method of improving the soils structure and strength permanently. While researching the information for this report I feel I have a much better understanding for construction geo-technics and foundations especially regarding the deformation, liquefaction and pile information related to this specific event. I hope to carry the information I have learned from this event into the construction field and apply them towards an authentic project that’s taking place and know that the information, regarding soils, I have given input on will be precise and accurate.
The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake hit the Northern California coastline. The San Andreas fault shook 296 miles of the coast causing major damage throughout San Francisco, destroying about 80% of the city. Fires broke out throughout the city that lasted for several days. This was one of the worst Earthquakes recorded in history, killing 3,000 people.("The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake")
Earthquakes in California are certainly not a surprise. What is a surprise is their unpredictability and randomness. Geologists say there is roughly a 50 percent chance that a magnitude 8 or more quake will hit the Los Angeles area sometime over the next 30 years. And, over the past twenty years, the Los Angeles area has witnessed several earthquakes, and in particular, two that were quite devastating; the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, and the January 17, 1994, Northridge Earthquake. Given the certainty that earthquakes will occur, they still seem to come as a surprise, and leave many communities unprepared to deal with their aftermath.
On the night of April 18, 1906, the whole town was woken by erratic shaking. Although the earthquake lasted under a measly minute, it caused significant damage. Many fires started all throughout the city; San Francisco burned in turmoil.
New Madrid earthquake of 1811-1812 was known to be “one of the most powerful earthquake felt throughout the Eastern United State”(2,75) . “December 16, 1811 at 2 a.m”(1). , the first earthquake had struck in the Northern part of Arkansas through Missouri. “This earthquake occurred in Central Mississippi Valley”(2,2) . New Madrid fault is located in the northern part of Missouri and southern part of Illinois. On the morning of December 16, 1811, when the earthquake struck; “people were scared”(10,26) , they ran out of their houses as the trees were falling onto the ground and the ground was breaking up. After the earthquake ended, around 7 a.m., one of the largest aftershock occurred and it was known to be a destructive shock because
On December 16, 1811, at roughly 2:15 a.m., the most powerful earthquake ever to hit the eastern United States struck Northeast Arkansas. Clocking in at a presumed 8.0 on the richter scale, the first of three major earthquakes form the New Madrid fault made itself known. This quake, and the two subsequent quakes following shortly after, caused some of the most intense damage and events ever recorded in U.S. history. The quakes were felt in Montreal, Boston, and even the White House. Events such as soil liquefaction and reversal in the flow of the Mississippi river are just a few of many glimpses into the absolute power of earthquakes. In this exploratory paper, I will review the three main quakes, along with their aftermath both
October 17, 1989. Damage for this San Francisco Bay Area quake are close to 4 billion. The
Ten million California residents who lived closely from the major fault lines could have been endangered in many extreme ways. (House, 56). A tragic thing was that after the earthquake a multitudes of fire followed right after. The situation led to the water mains being destroyed and the firefighter being left with no water to settle the growing fire which continued blazing. The bay water was planned on putting all of the dure out but it was to far in distance to be able to transport it (Earthquake of 1906, 2). The firefighters who were putting out the fire were either surrounded or being burned by the fire that was blazing in all directions (San Francisco Earthquake, 2). A resident who was present during the event mention that he/she saw men and women standing in a corner of a building praying, one person who became delirious by the horrific ways that were surrounding him while crying and screaming at the top of his lungs “the Lord sent it, the Lord”. Someone also mentioned that they experience themselves seeing Stones fall from the sky and crushing people to death. Reporters say there were 100 cannons going off (San Francisco Earthquake, 3). People who lived fifty miles away from the fire was able to “read the newspaper at
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
It was known as the great Alaska earthquake. On March 27, 1964, an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2 struck the Prince William Sound region of Alaska. This earthquake is the second largest earthquake ever recorded in the world, the first as a magnitude 9.2 in Chile in 1960. In other words, this earthquake released 10 million times more energy than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima Japan. Equally important, this (Abby Lautt) earthquake produced landslides and caused catastrophic damage covering an area of 130,000 square kilometers, which is the entire state of Alaska, parts of Canada and Washington. The earthquake lasted approximately four minutes with eleven substantial after shock occurring over the next 24hrs causing damages in the amount of almost $400,000 and killed 131 people.
According to Baldridge, Lang, Marshall & Popp, Haiti’s lack infrastructure was due to an absence of planning for the event of natural disasters. “There were nonengineered buildings experienced structural failures due to a lack of engineering design considering seismic hazards, substandard and uncontrolled construction, and poor building material quality” (Baldrige, Lang, Marshall & Popp, 2011, p. 323). The authors focus on the construction planning, which requires examining the land use around Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas, and the building materials used to construct the
It’s important that anyone in an industry dealing with the geological environment remains mindful of the risks and knows how to avoid them. It’s best to get a geotechnical engineer in to assess the potential risks and help you protect your property from geohazards. Nobody can prevent some of the potential hazards, such as earthquakes, as these are tectonic processes which aren’t yet fully understood in terms of activity, frequency and intensity. But there is lots that can be done to protect an area from certain geohazards, and as long as they are monitored and analysed by professionals, this can limit the damage to an
All the natural disasters are unpredictable and no one knows when they will destroy one’s life. The unpredictable disasters occur everywhere, anytime around the world. All the areas shaken on January 12, 2010, Haiti became catastrophic in the sixty seconds, with the largest earthquake in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, killed more than 200,000 people. As soon as the unexpected disaster occurred at 4:53 in the afternoon, everything in the area stopped to function as if no one had lived there. In a memoir, The World Is Moving Around Me, Laferrière vividly describes all the events he experienced from Haiti earthquake, showing how the disaster can make great impacts on people’s lives. Human time in Haiti was contained in the sixty seconds that the first violent tremors took to change their lives (Laferrière 23). For once, their misfortune was not exotic. What happened to them could have happened anywhere. Death is always sudden although most of the people are insensitive to the fact in life. It depends on our awareness to respond an unexpected catastrophe and prevent physical and mental effects afterwards. It is an international problem that all the people around the world should help and cooperate to solve following challenges from the chaos. With political and socio-economic aspects of the developing country, there are significant strategies to recover from the catastrophe based on sustainable development in Haiti. The government as well as other organizations work for humanitarian relief around the world and they affect to other international factors such as global health, education and basic needs to live as a human being.
... mitigation strategies. Analysis of several landslides within the New Madrid Seismic Zone indicated that the landslides were stable, but failure is possible during an earthquake of the magnitude experienced in 1812.
Landslides are known as mass movements of rock, debris or earth down a slope. They are gravity driven geological phenomena that occur as a result of deep slope failure. A website providing basic information for general audience describes three distinct physical events occur during a landslide: the initial slope failure, the subsequent transport, and the final deposition of the slide materials. These mass movements can vary from instantaneous collapses to slow gradual slides and are mostly unpredictable.Usually a number of reasons will contribute towards a landslide. These can be a collective of physical causes or a combination of natural and human activity.Distinct events can also trigger landslips. Few of the natural causes of landslides include seismic activity, undercutting caused by river or wave erosion, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and prolonged rainfall. Some of the human causes include deforestation, Undercutting and overloading of unstable slopes and vibrations caused by construction activity. This essay will firstly discuss about how landslides occur. Then it will discuss few of the physical causes of landslides by analysing two disasters that has occurred in the recent past.One of these two disasters was a result of one distinct event while the other was triggered as a result of a combination of physical reasons. It will also address a few options and measures that can be taken in order to reduce the risk of damage from landslides.
Earthquakes belong to the class of most disastrous natural hazards. They result in unexpected and tremendous earth movements. These movements results from dissemination of an enormous amount of intense energy in form of seismic waves which are detected by use of seismograms. The impact of earthquakes leaves behind several landmarks including: destruction of property, extensive disruption of services like sewer and water lines, loss of life, and causes instability in both economic and social components of the affected nation (Webcache 2).