Geologists Please Help....

Only an amateur here but frankly the answer boils down to four things- size & location of the quake, nature (shaker or a 'roller'), and the construction of your house, the first three being virtually unknowable..

Last Edited by Shiva ascendant on 07/24/2015 08:55 PM

Thanks for your help, but I still find myself uneasy.

Perhaps you should be, what type of foundation are you on?

I'm on a raised foundation.

Pilings? If so, driven how far into the ground and are they concrete cased?

Perhaps stem wall? So I am not educated in construction. It is basically concrete walls with a crawl space in the middle. No basement. ????? THANK YOU!!!!!!!

Deep pilings to bedrock or at least more stable earth may not help if there is plenty of potential loose debris above you that could come down, such as that recently deforested slope that took out that little roadside hamlet in WA? During a mudslide. A slide would just rake anything horizontal off the pilings or bury it, going downhill you have the chance the second story or roof might float above the surface of debris, but you have to remember what may come downhill at you as well.

Who ever told you this is wrong...

I put my address in an elevation calculator and that's what it gave me?????? I am in the foothills of the Olympic mountains. What do you mean?

All buildings, unless they are specifically designed for a seismic event, are prone to damage.

Then again, seismic design uses a "semi-standard" for pretty much everything (a 100 year, 500 year event). If the big one hits, then it would be a 100,000 year event and I'm afraid everything would be in for trouble.

Geologist here with a PhD from Cornell.

Unfortunately there are too many factors to consider when making geological "predictions". For example, many rock formations consist of varying density such as sedimentary, igneous, etc. Now compound this factor with random pulses from pressurized tectonic plates and you basically have a boiling cauldron of uncertainty. Not only that, I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm full of shit.

Beautiful analysis.... Seriously, I have two kids so any good advice you could give would be so greatly appreciated.

you may have deeper issues if you're worried about something that seems to be a concern to .00001% of the population. Have you talked to a therapist?

Did you ever consider that I am one of the few that is aware and meant to survive what may be coming. 30% chance of a big one in the next 50 years is pretty good odds if you are a gambling person. If you ask me, yo must not have children, because if you were a mother and heard those odds, you would need help for not caring about their well-being....

You have a valid point there OP, having kids SHOULD make you less willing to gamble. Have you considered hiring a licensed building inspector to look over the property and give you their opinion?

Last Edited by Shiva ascendant on 07/24/2015 09:59 PM

the sun will eventually heat up and become a quasar and collapse within itself, forming a black hole in the next billion years. You prepping for that too?

You'll be fine the only thing is if it does occur your house may fall upon your heads

yes...what's your point?

Thank you so much..... Yes. This report in the New York Times combined with my brother warning me has really brought it home. Absolutely.... Thanks for your compassion.

Since you are such an insensitive ass, I only hope that if this occurs that you realize the fault in your ways and come to a compassionate consciousness!

uh, no. Perhaps that explains why your original thread died; because it wasn't a factor to *most* people.

I'm not trying to be insensitive, but I worry about the kids with parents like you.

Perhaps you are right. Our society is so self absorbed that people don't care enough about their children. My world revolves around my kids. I always put myself below my kids. If you had children you would understand. I am guessing you are 19 and still live with your parents. Leave this thread and make room for real conversation dip-wad.

welp, looks like your thread is dying again. What's that tell you?

Speaking as a parent, don't over-coddle your kids. Simple advice.

fill dirt?


temp housing at best, massive rain could also to it out

obviously OP needs to build a fallout shelter. It's the only way to be sure.

And this is why I am not a paying member. Apparently the vast amount of people on this site are asshole, inexperienced, narcissistic, jerks! If you are over the age of 35 and agree with me, please respond.
Thanks.

Especially when you take in consideration fuku is dumping on the poor OP's kids.

Last Edited by SPUD on 07/24/2015 10:48 PM

Trust me. I would have moved shortly after Fuku to be safe, but my husband wouldn't and I don't want to split-up my family... It's between a rock and a hard place./

How high is the mass above your location, What is the estimated girth of the mass, and what kind of slope can you estimate in degrees?

How much saturated water does the material have?

Even the most massive "fill" operations likely not to add enough material to completely bury a house?

Walk up the slope and look for bent trees, this is a sure indication of movement.

Look for lateral sweeping depressions, or cracks in the surface.

Look for any anomaly that might indicate past movement.

These are pretty extreme examples, but its sort of what you are looking for. Some of this "bending" can be more subtle.

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Doom will always happen to the unfortunate and doom could come to any of us in magnitudes of different ways. You are not living inside of a volcano or anything like that so maybe stop worrying about it. We don't usually get advanced knowledge of our demise so it is best to just live in the day and even the moment.