Posted in Ag and Natural Resources, tagged earthquake, natural hazards on August 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »
In case you missed it, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. proved to be an interesting place to observe animal behavior during the earthquake that struck Central Virginia this week. This story in the Washington Post is worth a read.
Oh, and a hurricane is the next natural hazard to visit this part of the world – set to arrive in the nation’s capital early Sunday morning.
Posted in Ag and Natural Resources, Landscape Planning, tagged earthquake, Japan, liquefaction on August 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »
On the East Coast of the U.S. today, there was a minor earthquake centered in Virginia, my former home. 370 miles away in Central New York, it could be felt, but just barely. It reminded me of a video of Japan’s Sendai earthquake from March of this year. I am not referring to the terrifying videos of the tsunami, but the far less disturbing, but still dramatic and unusual, video of liquefaction filmed in a Chiba City park by CNN iReporter Brent Kooi. The original video has apparently been removed from YouTube because of a copyright claim. Surprisingly, I did find a shorter version of the original. Take a look. Liquefaction may sound boring, but I assure you that the image of the earth “breathing” is not. Perhaps “swelling” like an ocean wave is a better metaphor. The most dramatic images are those of the opening cracks moving back and forth with the tremors, and, in one case, water sloshing around in the crack. Less obvious to the video viewer is what was clear to Brent Kooi – the fact that pools of water were suddenly appearing all around him. Landfill in an earthquake.
Praxis in Landscape Architecture 