At 11:46 PM MDT on August 22, 2011, a Mw 5.3 earthquake was recorded by U.S. Geological Survey seismometers and located the epicenter approximately 9 miles (+/- 7.8 miles) WSW of Trinidad, Colorado. Early reports by local news media indicated that significant damage to buildings had occurred in the towns of Segundo and Valdez, 15 miles west of Trinidad on Colorado State Highway 12. Prior to the Mw 5.3 event, three smaller events were also recorded in the same vicinity, the largest being an Mw 4.6 event at 5:30 PM MDT.[right, the front of this brick building in Segundo Colorado collapsed, sending debris onto State Highway 12. Note the crushed mailbox. Figure 8 in the report.]
On the morning of August 23rd, the Colorado Geological Survey dispatched geologists to the area to document the damage related to the largest earthquake in Colorado within the last 44 years. Locations with observed structural damage included (from most severe to least): Segundo, Valdez, Cokedale, and Trinidad.
These guidelines provide professionals evaluating site-specific conditions in areas known or suspected to be subsiding with a standardized minimum level of investigation for land-subsidence and earth-fissure hazards. The guidelines do not include systematic descriptions of all available investigative techniques or topics, nor is it suggested that all techniques or topics are appropriate for every project. Variations in site conditions, project scope, economics, and level of acceptable risk may require that some topics be addressed in greater detail than is outlined in these guidelines. However, all elements of these guidelines should be considered in comprehensive land-subsidence and earth-fissure hazard investigations, and may be applied to any project site, large or small.Ref: Suggested Guidelines for Investigating Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Hazards in Arizona, 2011, by the Arizona Land Subsidence Interest Group, Arizona Geological Survey Contributed Report CR-11-D, 10p.
But the article concludes that the short term outlook for uranium demand and prices is "clouded" because supplies from decommissioning nuclear warheads will continue into 2013. However, if most of the nuclear power plants proposed around the world continue, and proposed uranium mines are delayed or cancelled, there could be a uranium shortage.
This relevant to Arizona because mining opponents argue that plentiful alternate sources of uranium exist to the deposits in northern Arizona, so the land can and should be withdrawn from exploration and development. Mining advocates argue that Arizona's deposits are some of the richest and most extensive in the nation.
They also posted a video of what is labelled a debris flow in Coronado National Memorial taken on August 8. However, Phil Pearthree at AZGS suggests that instead it is really an ash-laden flood. After viewing it, I agree. Watch and see what you think -"The location of the sites should give us 30-40 minutes advance warning if a major increase in runoff occurs," said Apache County Chief Deputy Brannon Eagar. "We’d liked to have more advance notice, but the lay of the land just wouldn’t permit it. In an emergency situation, every minute counts, and we’re grateful to have that advanced notification."
The data collected by the USGS are used by the National Weather Service to issue alerts and identify dramatic runoff changes in a given watershed.
Lake Powell is at its highest level in a decade, plus Lake Mead is 20 feet higher than a year ago, and it's expected to add another 33 feet by next August.
amount of water used in the Las Vegas Valley all of last year."
It sounds like an old Bob Hope - Bing Crosby movie - "The Road to Miami" but a 285-ton anode furnace for refining copper is on its way from Salt Lake City to the Freeport McMoRan mine in Miami, Arizona.
AZGS geologists Joe Cook and Mike Mahan rescued a calf today, that had become stuck in thick mud at the bottom of an earth fissure near Elfrida in Cochise County. [right, Joe rinses off face of calf after pulling it out of the fissure. Photo by Mike Mahan] They contacted the rancher who picked up the calf.
had earlier assessed the damage to Van Ness Road near highway 191, that is being torn up by a pair of giant cracks, one about 225 feet long, and the second about 375 feet in length [left]. Where the cracks are open they can be up to 2 feet across and up to ~6 feet deep (with a narrow crack open at the base and extending deeper). Some areas have a 2-foot wide block slumping into the open space below.
