Posted on 01/16/2010 8:06:31 PM PST by bruinbirdman
I was thinking the same thing about St Louis. Those midwetern cities barely have an earthquake building code since earthquakes are few and far between... but when the next quake comes it’ll be BIG.
Who ever designed the modern San Francisco gets the idiot award.
‘Earthquakes: Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.’
(with apologies to Flounder)
Perhaps (if by modern you mean the leftists in charge for the last 30 years). The original designers back in the 1850s actually did a good job, when the town grew from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands overnight. There was lots of unregulated growth, where tons of garbage and refuse was dumped at the bayshore and that landfill created new real estate to build on. That's where the earthquakes do the most damage.
The current city leaders have been slow to fix the water mains - most of them are over a hundred years old and break on a regular basis. When the big one hits, there will be no water supply to fight the ensuing fires, or water for the survivors. I drove co-workers to the Marina district in SF after the 1989 earthquake hit and saw the fires there; scary scene. We're not much more prepared now than then.
Another problem is most of the bridges will not survive a 8.0 earthquake.
A recent Science paper suggests activity in the New Madrid Fault Zone may be dying out.
Do you have a link? I would like to read it.
Madrid faultline would affect me. After learning about the Haiti earthquake, my first thoughts turned to where I live (Atlanta) and remembering one of the worst earthquakes in the early 1800’s. It was worse than the SF earthquake of 1906.
The city is just as vulnerable as it was in 1906? That’s an insane statement.
There are scientific theories that the New Madrid earthquakes were caused by past global warming. It is suggested that crust movements caused by glacial rebound reactivated ancient faults in New Madrid.
Actually, it isn’t. SF is more vulnerable to devastation today than it was in 1906. Only around 30% of the buildings in SF are built to withstand a 6.5 quake. The city’s water supplies are just as vulnerable today as in 1906. I recently watched a program on the history channel which stated these problems.
Memphis and St. Louis are screwed when the New Madrid Fault explodes. And its about due for it to happen, too.
Exactly right. They’ve actually done millions of dollars in earthquake retrofitting in the Memphis (or St. Louis, can’t remember which one) in anticipation of this quake.
Not true. Bridges are being retro-fitted. The History Channel did a great piece on the New Madrid Fault and the effects on Memphis and St. Louis.
Alex, No way. This sucker's been around since the Cambrian Era of geologic history.
Some interesting papers on the new madrid fault.
http://quake.ualr.edu/public/nmfz.htm
http://www.showme.net/~fkeller/quake/lib/enigma.htm
Last paper also cites prehistoric quakes from 1400 AD, 900AD and 500AD or so.
I was watching a tsunami program on TV a few nights ago concerning the Cascadia Fault just off the coast.
The program showed Seattle and claimed the newer bldgs. were built to earthquake codes.
Looking at the skyline most of the newer bldgs. had most/all glass facades.
Not my idea of safe construction in an earthquake zone.
I am glad they are getting retrofitted.
Its the truth. Many fire commanders has said the city is still very vulnerable especially those homes built in landfill area. Chinatown and much of the Marina district is built on landfill from the 1906 earthquake. I suggest you see Megadisasters:San Francisco Earthquake.
You are correct.
In 1989, the SF Bay Bridge suffered a collapsed section which shut down all traffic for 3 months. That's why I drove my co-workers to the Marina; their homes were across the Bay in Oakland and they couldn't easily get home, so I drove them to relatives in SF. Traffic was snarled. All electricity was out for the greater part of a week. Electric trolley buses and light rail were stuck in the streets, no traffic signals were operating, BART was shut down indefinitely after the quake struck. There were masses of people downtown walking in the middle of streets trying to find a way home. All this from one bridge shutting down.
When the big one hits, I fear that several bridges across SF Bay will shut down. CalTrans has been retro-fitting the bridges since 1989. However, there were several scandals about sub-standard concrete and iron being used from suppliers (Chinese, mostly). Decisions were made to continue with the retro-fitting since the materials were embedded and it would be too costly to start over. The SF/Oakland Bay Bridge retro-fit won't be completed for another 5 years.
We're overdue for a big quake on the Hayward fault which has the potential for being 7.0 to 8.0, not to mention the possibility of the San Andreas fault snapping on the SF peninsula with a 7.0 or greater quake soon.
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