Optimum Seismic, Inc. January 2022 Newsletter
Ali Sahabi, GEC
Principal,
Optimum Seismic, Inc.
Successful partnerships in 2021 speak to a growing push for resilience in 2022
The new year sparks reflection on what we learned in the previous year. One of my more meaningful lessons of 2021 was the positive response we received in our efforts to build seismic resilience in our cities. The lesson: Don’t get discouraged. Stay the course when your work has value to others.
Today, our communities are safer because people are more informed about the risks of earthquakes, and how to prepare for them. Government leaders are recognizing the social and economic benefits of seismic retrofits of vulnerable buildings — and I am hopeful that a growing number of incentives will be adopted in the coming year to help make it easier for building owners to comply with retrofit mandates and/or recommendations.
In 2022, Optimum Seismic will continue to work with its partner organizations to raise awareness of the benefits that resilience brings to our communities. For more information, visit OptimumSeismic.com.
Major quakes set record in 2021
Great quakes average about one per year in the world, but 2021 saw three: an 8.1 in New Zealand, an 8.2 in Alaska, and an 8.1 in the Southern Atlantic. These bursts of energy – equivalent to a 5-megaton explosion – have seismologists worried about what 2022 will bring.
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New Year’s Day shaking attributed to exploding meteor
A loud boom and shaking ground reported New Year’s Day by people in Pittsburgh was likely caused by an exploding meteor, the National Weather Service reported. A spokeswoman for the agency said the meteor event happened while “falling through the atmosphere.”
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ShakeAlert warns 500,000 of 6.2 quake
An early warning reached half a million phones on Christmas Eve, just seconds before a 6.2 magnitude quake struck northwest California. It was the largest earthquake since the ShakeAlert system began statewide last year. The system gave people warning to prepare for a quake before it strikes.
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Is a deadly fault lurking under Orange County’s mountains?
The Santa Ana Mountains are a regional treasure, providing a spectacular backdrop to Orange County. The range begins at the Whittier Fault and stretches south to the Santa Margarita River. Major summits are scattered in between. How did the ridgeline come to be? Did a dangerous earthquake fault cause them to rise?
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Retrofits of Portland bridges stall
Portland’s downtown bridges may not survive a major earthquake, but rising costs have delayed retrofits to make them safer. Most of the bridges stand on river sediment that may liquify when vibrated. “When they built these bridges in the 1920s, they didn’t know we were in earthquake country,” said Multnomah County spokesman Mike Pullen.
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Canadian researchers find new quake type
A research team in British Columbia has found seismic events that are slower and last longer than traditional earthquakes. They believe the events, which can shake up to 10 seconds, may be triggered by hydraulic fracturing, a method for extracting oil and gas in western Canada.
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Can tennis balls work in seismic-isolation systems?
Seismic-isolation systems in the bases of buildings in high-risk areas use complex structures of concrete, rubber and metal to reduce quake damage by absorbing the ground’s horizontal oscillations. A UCLA engineer says used tennis balls can be adapted to do the same thing, saving up to 20% in cost.
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Study yields insight into L.A. seismology
To study how seismic waves travel through a sedimentary basin, researchers did experiments using 3-D printed models of Los Angeles’ underbelly. They found the highest-frequency seismic waves—those most destructive to buildings — were actually lessened within the models’ basin.
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What should I do after a ShakeAlert warning?
Your best response to an earthquake warning depends on a variety of circumstances, including location, mobility, and more. Most regions say to “drop, cover, and hold on”, but there may be different instructions depending on your unique circumstances.
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Upcoming Events
Several Earthquake Retrofit sessions for apartment owners are scheduled by Optimum Seismic to help protect our communities. Check the Optimum Seismic website for details
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