A particularly crazy thing I learned from some friends who I know who work in this field is that they use underwater hydraulic chainsaws (!) to sample some of these trees. https://www.stanleyinfrastructure.com/products/underwater-ch... The field work in general seems very wet for this kind of research. (my partner did lots of it for her graduate work)
that 3rd pic could be a black metal album cover
Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
81–90 of 149 posts
Re: Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
#82Everyone in the Seattle region is thinking about earthquakes since we just felt the 4.3 quake on Sunday! https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/small-...
I can't readily find a source, but there was another one some weeks back of around 4.0.
I can't decide if these are good news making a big quake less likely or foreshadowing of a big quake coming.
Re: Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
#83Cascadia Subduction Zone[1] is why I never considered living in Seattle/Portland once I found out about it. Funny, cause I live in the SF Bay Area, where the earthquakes are frequent, but they can never reach the magnitude of what's possible by the Cascadia Subduction Zone. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone
On the other hand, Seattle is one of the best places in the world to ride out climate change, which is 100% happening, and happening already. It’s all a numbers game.
I wish we were less focused on moving to where we can survive this mess and more focused on solving it, personally.
Re: Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Water shortages are largely in the central valley and Southern California. Sf gets its water from Hetch Hetche, clean hydro power too. SF is a very different place in a lot of ways from the rest of California, and the US in general.
Yes but that aqueduct is hundreds of miles long and goes through the Central Valley. Once the water wars begin, that situation could change rapidly.
They'd need to change some pretty old laws...
https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/hetch-hetchy/h....
Re: Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm no expert on the region but aren't people in California forever whining about heat waves and water shortages?
Water shortages are largely in the central valley and Southern California. Sf gets its water from Hetch Hetche, clean hydro power too. SF is a very different place in a lot of ways from the rest of California, and the US in general.
Fresno County has a history of actually increasing its groundwater levels intentionally at times. Anyone interested in water issues could stand to take a look at what they do.
Re: Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
#86Everyone in the Seattle region is thinking about earthquakes since we just felt the 4.3 quake on Sunday! https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/small-...
Definitely felt it for a couple seconds lying still. If you were driving or moving about you might've missed it.
Re: Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
#87I wasn't involved in this study, but I wrote the study that estimated the magnitude of this earthquake[0]. In case anyone is interested, usually the magnitudes of 'paleoearthquakes' (historic/prehistoric earthquakes discovered by finding evidence of old ground deformation) are estimated by relating the measured offset of the earth's surface or a rock/dirt layer across the fault line to the earthquake magnitude throug…
Thanks for jumping in with your experience - every time the New Yorker article makes the rounds, I do a little light digging to try and find some sources the author based it on. Reading through some of Goldfinger's publications will help unlock a bit more, thank you!
Re: Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
That New Yorker article goes viral every few years - it's a well written piece and spins a great yarn, but there's some significant hyperbole and it's sources don't quite back up the claims. Yes, a 9.x will be devastating. No, everything west of i-5 will not be toast.
> it's sources don't quite back up the claims. I'll admit that FEMA isn't exactly cited in a way that's possible to corroborate, but presumably they're estimating a worst-case scenario and not a median- or average-case scenario. That might explain some of the large divorce in figures.
I'd love to find any actual FEMA publications that back up some of the numbers and claims - so far to the best I can tell is it's mostly from interviews with the regional director, which, while valuable, isn't quite at the level of citation I'd like. If anyone's got a PDF I'd love to retract all my critiques though. :)
Re: Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
The fault is at least 150 miles from Seattle proper, the city will not receive the full brunt of the earthquake. Tsunamis are strongly mitigated by the geography of Puget Sound — the biggest tsunami threat is actually the Seattle fault. By contrast, the San Andreas fault literally runs through the middle of the Bay Area.
Let's see. The Cascadia quake is 100x as big. I'm at 1/3 the distance from the San Andreas fault. Guess who gets the larger earthquake? Add to that the fact that I grew up in Victoria. All of Vancouver Island is a subduction zone during a Cascadia earthquake. Sadly, that means that a good chunk of what I knew growing up winds up under water. Seattle may fare better, but my home town does not.
It's not like the island will just drop into the earth.
Unless you were referring the tsunami risk, which is my big fear as a fellow Victorian.
Re: Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
That New Yorker article goes viral every few years - it's a well written piece and spins a great yarn, but there's some significant hyperbole and it's sources don't quite back up the claims. Yes, a 9.x will be devastating. No, everything west of i-5 will not be toast.
Good thing I'm 10 miles east from that road of doom, I'm sure I'll be safe ;-).
You gotta worry about lahars. :)