I drove over towards nearby Napa where the 6.0 earthquake on August 24 was centered. I didn't want to drive into town to get pictures. There's been enough of them in the news and I would feel like benefiting from someone else's misfortune. What I found west of town on Highway 12 was more than I expected.
Nothing could show more the ground movement that took place than these photos.
Before you think the chasm was as wide as the cement patch I can assure you it was not. The road crew removed the fractured earth within that space to have a better pour for the cement.
You can see from this photo the ground movement was only side to side with no upward thrust. That is very fortunate for imagine how dangerous it would be to drive into a vertical displacement of several inches in the dark of 3:20 am. Nevertheless there were reports of cars disabled with flat tire on some roads.
I have some more pictures for the next couples of days which will show what the road itself probably looked like before repairs.
In case you were wondering, the highway is open. I was just there very earlier on a Sunday morning when traffic was at a minimum. I may do some crazy things for this blog but standing in the middle of a busy highway isn't one of them.
13 comments:
Literally showing what a moving piece of earth means. One continental shelf goes 1 feet to the left . Very nice pictured here.
Not only the houses have damage, but the roads as well of course. I didn't think about that inmediately. Thanks for showing. Hope the earth will keep quiet now it has shown its balls.
Thats a remarkable picture! Really does show how much it moved.
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
These photos show very well the power of earthquakes. The hole there was a gaping one!
Nice capture, John. As a geologist, I can spout all kinds of observations, but will spare Everyone. Wondering what the town is doing about the displacement of gas, water, and sewage lines....have you heard?
i'd not be too thrilled to drive over those seams. :)
Shows how big I am, in comparison to Nature. Humbling! Thanks for this post, John.
Peace :)
That's incredible!
Imagine the power it took to shift the ground that much!
I agree with Rose, that must have been something.
Truly amazing!
Never saw anything like this and h ope I never do. Thanks for sharing this information and shots.
Very dramatic photos, puts it all into perspective.
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