#seismic-crisis

#seismic-crisis

San Jose fire officials warned that lithium-ion batteries are highly toxic when ablaze due to 'highly irritating gases' like carbon monoxide.

"What's the consequences if we allow 800 residents to be in a severe fire with no evacuation routes? We're being asked to choose between two really bad options."

A culvert on the side of Interstate 88 collapsed about 90 miles west of Albany, sending construction crews scrambling and motorists looking for detours.

Beatriz Coca, a retired psychologist, discovered the need for a temporary power pole during her home construction process, highlighting the complexities faced by many rebuilding their homes.

The Springs fire in Riverside county has grown to 3,500 acres, prompting local authorities to issue several evacuation orders. The fire is concentrated in an area mostly north and east of Lake Perris, burning portions of the surrounding state recreation area.

Scientists used satellite data to study vertical land motion from 2015 to 2023. Findings revealed that regional studies substantially underestimate sea level rise. NASA projects more than double the expected rise by 2050.

The rods are the central element of a novel seismic-responsive structural system that is designed to help the building snap back to its original shape in the event of a major earthquake. Their trick is an embedded cluster of taut cables made from a highly flexible compound called a shape-memory alloy that's capable of bending under tension-like the lateral shaking in a California earthquake-and then straightening out.

A magnitude 3.4 earthquake rumbled in the South Bay on Tuesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor struck at 6:48 a.m. and its epicenter was approximately 15 miles south of San Jose and 5 miles east-northeast of Gilroy. At least two small aftershocks were reported in the area shortly after the initial shaker; those shocks measured magnitude 1.3 and magnitude 1.0 respectively.

The city passed legislation nearly 18 months ago requiring property owners to retrofit their multi-story, wooden-frame buildings with at least three units constructed before 1990. It delayed implementation, however, when the federal government rolled back significant funding to facilitate the repairs. But after a court-granted injunction required the release of some of those federal funds, the city approved a $1.6 million pilot financing program in hopes of rolling out a larger critical life-safety initiative in the future.

An earthquake measuring at a preliminary magnitude of 4.3 shook Sonoma County on Saturday morning around 9:22 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor struck about 3.7 miles north-northwest of the Geysers, close to Healdsburg in the North Bay. Originally the quake was measured at a preliminary magnitude of 3.9 but that was revised to a preliminary 4.3 later in the morning by the USGS.

Earthquakes usually strike without warning. But sometimes they come in clusters dozens or even hundreds of small quakes concentrated in one area over days or weeks. Geologists call these clusters earthquake swarms, and while they can be unsettling, scientists say they rarely signal that a major quake is imminent. Unlike the familiar pattern of a single large earthquake followed by aftershocks, swarms consist of many small quakes without a clear mainshock.

Showers moving into the region from the Central Coast should bring steady rain to Ventura and Los Angeles counties Thursday morning, with frosty temperatures pushing snow levels lower than normal, potentially impacting commuters along the Grapevine, according to the National Weather Service. "Steady precipitation will taper off to showers by late this afternoon and become confined to the mountains by late tonight," the weather service posted in a Thursday morning forecast.