UPDATE: there is a video of this site here. One of the major impacts of large earthquakes in coastal areas can be the damage to dock facilities caused by liquefaction. The process of seismic liquefaction is well-explained elsewhere, so I won’t reprise that here. However, if liquefaction does occur then high levels of damage can occur to the very facilities needed to bring aid into the affected area. Given the …

The Haiti earthquake rightly continues to dominate the news around the world, with the situation on the ground looking increasingly desperate. The news media are already reporting on the growing frustration amongst the population about the lack of aid, not uncommon in large disasters actually, but probably magnified in this case. Although every rapid onset disaster is different, in a number of ways this event takes us into new territory. …

With admirable speed Google have released two high quality images of the earthquake affected areas: http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2010/01/imagery_layer_for_haiti_earthquake.html At the moment the imagery is just for the Carrefour and Port-au-Prince areas (i.e. not the rural upland areas), but it contains the first good news to emerge from the area. This is that on this imagery at least the number of landslides appears to be small and, perhaps most interestingly, there are few …

Over the last few years a number of studies have examined the level of damage associated with the intensity of shaking in earthquakes. The table below shows the relationship between shaking intensity (MMI) across the top and different types of building down the side. The number is the percentage of buildings damaged or collapsed: Click on the table for a better view in a new window. This is then helpful …

It is inevitable that the Haiti earthquake will have triggered landslides, especially in the mountains and in the slum areas built onto the hillsides around the large cities. At present it is not possible to quantify how large these impacts will have been, but some reports are starting to emerge: The BBC live coverage has this report:Emmet Murphy, Jacmel, Haiti, emails:I was driving through the mountains when the car started …

The earthquake in Haiti is likely to have caused very high levels of damage and many fatalities. The USGS is currently reporting the earthquake as magnitude 7.0 at a shallow depth (only 10 km), which will have led to high ground accelerations for a large area of the country:The USGS PAGER analysis, which examines the vulnerability of the population is the affected area places three large communities (Petit Goave, population …

Below is the presentation file of the keynote lecture that I gave today at the Chilean Geological Congress in Santiago. I have removed a few of the figures as they have not yet been published. You should be able to download and to view the file below: Damage caused by earthquake landslides http://www.authorstream.com/player/player.swf?p=278331_633948356710621250 See more presentations by Dr_Dave | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations The powerpoint file is hosted on Authorstream, which …

This is a 45 minute presentation that I gave today at a seminar for sixth form (High School) teachers on the impact of the Wenchuan (Sichuan) Earthquake in May 2008. You should be able to view or download the presentation below. Please feel free to use it as appropriate for educational purposes, but please acknowledge me. Teachers First Talk 14th October 2009 http://www.authorstream.com/player/player.swf?p=254450_633911254812360000 See more presentations by Dr_Dave | Upload …

I thought it would be useful to provide a compilation of images of the landslides triggered by the Sumatra earthquake. ReliefWeb is reporting that over 1000 landslides were triggered: “Landslides have hindered relief efforts in some areas. The West Sumatra Satkorlak reported at least 1,000 landslide spots in Gunung Tigo highlands, located between Padang Pariaman and Agam districts. Six helicopters carrying food and medical supplies were dispatched to the highlands …

It is interesting to note that in all three of the large earthquakes upon which I have worked (1999 Taiwan, 2005 Pakistan, 2008 China), the media has tended to initially focus their coverage upon urban areas, whilst the real story has actually been in the rural hinterland. The reasons for this are complex of course, and include the power of the imagery of people buried / being rescued from buildings. …