AECL- Putting off the nastiest to the last

Article

Many interesting quotes in this article.

"The idea that this Conservative government could sell AECL at fire-sale prices to foreign interests is outrageous."

Now is AECL really worth the price of a fire? The article goes on with the usual screaming that we have sunk billions into this black hole, so it must really be worth a lot!

Now, for something completely different.

MacDiarmid said AECL has completed eight of 10 repair sites representing 60 per cent of the welding work required to fix the reactor. However, he cautioned that the last two sites present the "biggest challenges."

We used to do this all the time at the old company: pick off all the low-lying fruit in a project, say it's 80% done, with only a couple of things left to do! Sort of like saying, I've washed the whole car, and all I have left to do is to tune the engine! :)

Toronto News: Fish Ladder Opened

Yeah, somebody heard my plaintive cry, and came to fix the fish ladder. I did a news report! The local bankrupt tv stations have been scooped! :)

This is HD! Many thanks to the fishie people who made all this possible!

Massive number of defects keeps collider at half power

Article

The success in colliding protons marks a remarkable comeback for CERN, but the lab is still only halfway back to where it wanted to be: Only a year and a half ago, the first attempt to start the collider ended with an explosion that left part of its tunnel enveloped in frigid helium gas and soot when an electrical connection between two of the powerful magnets that steer the protons vaporized. A subsequent investigation revealed that the collider is riddled with thousands of such joints, the result of what Lucio Rossi, head of magnets at CERN, said stemmed from a “lack of adequate risk analysis” in a recent report in the online journal Superconductor Science and Technology.

This is interesting. At last I have found out why they are closing the thing again. Right now they are taking a risk at half power, just to show up the Americans. Those perfidious French would do anything to anything to twig the Yanks! :)

Can't go cheap on nuclear waste

Article

This is amazing! This is the worst nightmare of any community that would be compelled to host a nuclear waste facility. Basically it sound like they will hire a few locals, and throw the waste all over the place. That's why I really don't support remote places for this.

Electricity Going Up

Article

Yeah, OPG is getting a piece of the action! About time, since they have to pay for the Niagara Tunnel, and all those other disasters.

We got hit by the phony 'time of use' meters, which just upped the price, now there's a wind surcharge, and the HST! Anyway, get used to the rates going through the roof, since there will never be another nuclear plant, and wind farms all get abandoned after 10 years!

Save the Fishies - Open the Fish Ladder!

Such a crisis! I always go walking along the Humber with the dog. 10 years ago they put in this huge fish ladder for the big dam in the middle of the picture, since the fish couldn't jump it. 10 years I've watched it, and never a fish! Every year they come and clean it out, and open it up for the Spring.

But I always thought the fish were blocked lower down, but today I saw the big fish jumping! They probably aren't salmon, but steelheads. Maybe they aren't the important ones (are they sterile?), but they are dashing their little brains out on the falls, without a chance! Come out Mr. Fish Ministry and save them!

I tried to find someone and tell them about this, but they tend to be rather protected by devious phone systems, and nobody is ever there. If anybody knows the right buttons to push then SAVE THE FISHIES! :)

Disasters as Tourist Hotspots

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday visited a disaster zone caused by a massive mud volcano blamed on gas drilling and said it could be turned into a tourist attraction.

The mud has been devouring land and homes in East Java’s Sidoarjo district since May 2006, endangering as many as 100,000 people and causing 4.9 billion dollars worth of damage, an Australian expert estimates.

It has buried 12 villages, killed 13 people, displaced more than 42,000 and wiped out 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of densely populated farming and industrial land.

Yes folks, and over to the right we have the famous mud volcano, now called Bambangland. Notice the tremendous stink! Ah, look at that! Another house is being consumed! We will soon take our famous hovercraft, to zoom right over the mud! Join us later in our healthful mud-bath spa, which has to move every few months. Our next tour will be Haiti, where we can see first-hand people dying of disease! An amazing thrill!

The Earthquake Boogie-Man

Article

The group contends an earthquake fault and aging components threaten community safety. Another complaint says a radioactive fire would break out if an earthquake caused drainage of the plant's spent fuel storage pools.

Ah, the good old days that used to keep me employed. In those days, every opposition group brought forth the earthquake genie. It was magnificent!

Of course, now the pendulum has swung too far the other way. The nuclear plants have used some out-of-date mumbo-jumbo to invoke immunity from any size of earthquake. It's sad that almost nothing is being done.

Memory of a Tunnel Fire

Article

A very interesting story. One of the problems with traffic tunnels is the possibility of fire. I wonder if now they restrict the type of load, or have sprinklers in the tunnel?

No Wonder Quebec Didn't Want Lepreau

Article

This is an interesting situation. All the workers are grumbling that things are going to ratshit. But AECL says that it's all fine and dandy! Hmmm, who to believe?

The energy minister said he doesn't have much confidence in AECL's word because of how the Crown corporation had assured New Brunswickers last year that the project was on schedule only to find out a short time later that the retrofit was actually 16 months behind schedule.

We would have wiped out the dinosaurs in any case!

IT'S ALL OURS!

Article

Who needs a giant meteor? We've entered a new geologic era! Even though all the geology is working the same since the last ice age, they want to call this something different from the Holocene. Are we equivalent to the plates all rejoining? Continental ice sheets? Huge amounts of volcanic activity? Sure!

Those dinosaurs were just big chickens anyway. Yum, yum! :)

Super-Duper Geologist-Type Guy

Article

I knew David Eaton when he was at Western. He became the head geo-ishy person when we were bulking up the Ontario seismic network. Suddenly he got an offer from Calgary that he couldn't refuse (a lot of money), since it takes a lot of money to want to go to that place! (I spent a summer there! :).

His mission was to shake up the sleepy place, which was too covered in oil, and he did it! There was also an article in Canadian Geographic on how they are installing the same type of seismometers we put in Ontario. Yeah, Calgary is rising from the third-rate, and David Eaton is doing it! No wonder whatshername wanted to talk there! :)

Chile Earthquake - Tickling the Gap

Article

The high-magnitude earthquake of 27.2.2010 in southern Central Chile closed one of the two remaining seismic gaps at the South American plate boundary. After the quake of Concepcion, the remaining gap in the north of Chile now holds potential for a comparable strong quake and is, thus, moving more and more into the focus of attention.

This earthquake most likely doesn't mean anything, but it is in a significant spot. Who knows when these things decide to rip? I just hope the people on the coast are alerted to the signs of when to run like hell!

That Old Chalk River, It just keeps delaying along

Article

Yes, they've sung the Chalk River song once again. I can imaging that long ago they told their political masters a realistic date. They, of course, ranted and raved, and said it was unacceptable. So they told them a more politically correct date...... :)

N-Waste Blue Ribbons Start Their Dream Job

Article

"This is not a siting commission," Chu said. "It is not to pick spots in the United States. It is to look at all the science and technology and all the other things that would influence how we deal with the back end of the fuel cycle."

Wow! What a glorious job! Since it is full of political hacks, you would never be expected to come up with anything. I think there is only two on it who know how to pronounce 'new-clear', but it's probably a good drinking party.

I often wondered if I really would want to sit on some super-panel. Problem is that you have to sit and listen to the stupidest people alive, like whatshername, the white supremest. I'd fall asleep! I wouldn't be able to take advantage of all the free booze, since I can barely touch the stuff, except on the cottage dock in summer! :)

Manila Earthquake Very Tiny

I was just thinking that this is as small an earthquake that can still make the news. The PGV on firm ground is around 1 cm/s. We'll assume it hits 10 cm/s on the soil basins. If we plotted the historical seismicity, it would be a giant splotch, since this is an extremely active area.

NB Can't Get Rid of Loser Nuclear Plant

Article

The curse of a loser n-plant! Although it looked like a great idea to dump the plant on somebody else, the canny Quebecers tried to snag NB with the risk.

It doesn't help that people are always whining how great these things are, and that they're 'crown jewels' and all that crap. The truth is that these plants are run by those luggage-handling gorillas.

Now, nuclear plants aren't that tough!

Ottawa Tunnel Plan Continues

Article

The cost of the tunnel and stations is estimated to be $750 million. If this tunnel is built for that price, pigs will truly fly. The first rail project had a fixed-price contract, so that the contractor -- Siemens et al. -- would cover any overruns. You won't get that for a tunnel because there are too many risks, such as surprise geology or water.

I certainly agree about the pigs! They could also throw in a congestion charge, like London, England.

Poorly Translated Japanese Alloy Can Save Haiti

Article

I love science stories from Japan! Nothing actually comes from there, since it all gets Lost in Translation. Now, we have an iron alloy, which has a high 'stress' level, more than titanium. Of course, if anybody had actually looked at this, they would realize it means higher 'stiffness' than titanium, or a higher strength, but who knows?

All I know is that the whole thing will get gobbled up in that unique world of poor English, and expensive licences, and we'll never hear of it again. The alloy is probably more expensive than gold, so we won't count on it showing up in Haiti anytime soon. :)

Nothing at Niagara Tunnel

As you know, I'm not bashing my head anymore, at the walls of ineptitude. It was too painful! I'm just reporting once a week, that there is no news from them.

I'm waiting for the main bearing to bust, or something to happen with the roof, as they pile on the shotcrete. In the meantime, they are happy to tunnel slowly, since the overbreak plastering is on the critical path. La, la, la, what a happy contractor, since OPG is now paying all extra charges, and we won't see a big nasty court case after all.

Burlington at High Risk

Article

Burlington is at high risk for seismic, oops, computer crime. Yes, this wonderful study merely states that cities which have more on-line access are at the higher risk. It's a bit silly.

But the earthquake risk is more real than some old PC virus company trying to make headlines. :)

McMaster wins Sr. Ontario Women's Water Polo

An amazing weekend! It was just round-robin and no medals for the ladies.

Niagara Tunnel to Have a Plastic LIner

Article

Happy, happy, fun, fun! The liner casting is set to go, once they fill in the overbreak 6 inches per sweep. I was interesting in the 3 mm plastic liner which means the concrete liner remains unbonded with the shotcrete. The liner stops water from leaking away, and is standard with these applications.

Illinois gives up on nuclear waste thing

Article

They removed the silly restriction on new nuclear plants. I now have a bold new prediction:

We will never see a nuclear waste facility for n-plants in the US.

I just can't see the incentive, and the feds can't push the states to do anything.

My other prediction:

We will never see a new nuclear plant in Canada.

That just comes from our general inability to do anything involving ethanolic old boys. :)

Very Tiny Earthquake Hits Los Angeles

Article

This could only be news because everybody is 'earthquake jumpy'. It's just like fake acceleration with Toyotas! Nevertheless, I am doing this headline in a blatant attempt to pander to the populace for pennies. :)

Hot Areas in Seismic

FAQ

"What's going on in seismic for an ambitious person?"

I think our recent run in earthquakes may loosen the purse strings. Specifically, I believe that when the results from Chile come trickling in, we will forever blow away the evil twins of "PGA" and "Happy Soft Ground". As well, all these earthquakes will hasten the effort of going beyond the standard building code, and try to keep buildings functional after an earthquake.

For this you need advanced analysis, better seismic information, and energy absorbing elements in structures. This could be a hot area, but I've been waiting for this for a long time.

I give a slightly lower probability to the mundane, which would be:

-Chile results are botched up like Japanese results

-earthquake streak ends, causing people to go back to sleep.

That's actually depressing, so I refuse to acknowledge it. :)

Geology Brains

Article

High school and college students who understand the geological age of the Earth (4.5 billion years) are much more likely to understand and accept human evolution, according to a University of Minnesota study published in the March issue of the journal Evolution.

In other words, students who can accept the earth is older than their parents, can also accept evolution. But it goes on to say that only 1 in 4 high school teachers put out students who can do this. So, most of the US can no longer produce doctors.

It's ok, I think they can import them from elsewhere, as long as they like guns. :)

Nuclear Waste - Germany goes with salt

Article

That's refreshing. I always like to see a good Homer attitude: "I didn't learn anything." You would think that the sight of all those rusty barrels being crushed by salt would mean something, but no.

Now, I don't believe there should be any great difference between 'low level waste', and used fuel, except the fuel radiates heat. This causes problems in highly stressed rock, and salt. In Swedish leaky granite, it probably opens up the water channels. When we used to actually model these things, it was the heat that was problematic.

CBC-TV Show on Earthquakes

Article

For those of you who like to get their science on tv, here's a show for tonight.

I happen to know* that they will explain how earthquakes are taking over the world, and that soon everybody will die under an avalanche of bricks!

* all bullshit!

:)

Everyday Earthquake Hits Japan

Ha, you can barely find the star in that mess! Nevertheless, I shall use this to promote the cause of the Earthquake Hockey Stick! We, of the Hockey Stick Society, have splintered off from the Flat Earth Society, and believe that everything is a hockey stick.

HS philosophy is very good for investing -- See a stock go up for a few days, then bet your life savings on it, because it's a hockey stick! Condos in Toronto - it's a hockey stick! Our members became rich with this, but currently have no fixed addresses.

Laptops in Kenya - OLPC

Article

Hey, that's my buddy Kevin, down in Kenya. Looks like he is permanently sweating! The pictures are great, showing what the OLPC can do for a community, provided you have people spending a whole year preparing for it! You just can't drop these things on people!

Pity the Perfusionist

Article

Of Saskatoon's four specialists, known as perfusionists, two have left due to work-related issues in the past month, association of Saskatchewan president Chris Driol told reporters at a news conference Friday.

Now, if you read this, you just might think of the usual union featherbedding, but I know a perfusionist. This might be a case where a job is too big for a single human, and there is no rest. They tend to be female and, thus, abused in the health system. All the surgeons blame them when they kill a patient, 'cause it couldn't be the great man himself!

The training is extensive, so you can't get these people overnight. If male pilots wrestle the big jumbo jets, or a military guy tends the radars, they get compulsory rest. Not for these people! They are always on call, and they just can't say 'Forget it', then somebody will die. Sure, you think, they're sucking up the overtime, but this isn't the phony overtime that was rampant in the old company! This is health-destroy 16 hours a day!

It's a big responsibility and all shit. You're the bottom of the blame ladder. The only thing limiting how much abuse these gals get is the quit index. If they make it too miserable, they all start dying. New people will always flood in for the money, but I don't think they can be that smart....

Interesting Chile Pictures

Article

Got this link from Buzz, when I did my regular earthquake search, which I have up in the left column. Buzz is getting better, and I have found places to make witty comments. Soon it will get overwhelmed by stupidity, which is starting with automatically repeated comments. Then we have to find something else!

Russians Support Global Earthquaking

Article

That's it! Russian vodka scientists have confirmed Global Earthquaking!

"Seismic activity in the Pacific belt has increased in the recent years... which means that the Earth entered another period of tectonic activity. It is a long process, which is likely to take years," said Vladimir Bormotov, a scientist at the Far Eastern Institute of Tectonics Geophysics in southeastern Russian city of Khabarovsk, quoted by RIA Novosti.

To support his claim, the scientist has pointed to the recent violent earthquakes around the world.

So, all you so-called experts claiming this is nothing but a short-term cluster. Al Gore doesn't believe that about temperature, and we vodka-lovers don't believe that about earthquakes! Yeah, Hockey Sticks Uber Alles!

Niagara Tunnel Cost Estimate

Although I've given up bitching at them, this was an interesting financial note.

Uncertainty with respect to the cost and schedule for both the tunnel excavation and liner installation continues. There are a number of factors which contribute to this uncertainty, including challenging rock conditions. Allowances for differing rock conditions have been included in the cost estimate and schedule. Major equipment breakdown is also a risk factor. To mitigate this risk, the contractor is monitoring the equipment and maintenance programs are in place, with critical spare parts available, to minimize potential delays. In addition, there is risk with respect to the rate of progress for the restoration of the circular cross-section of the tunnel. Mitigation measures such as extended operations and use of additional equipment are planned by the contractor.

The latest report has no overbreak, but they are nursing the machine down to 10m per day, when they should be hitting 70. I don't know what happens when the main bearing breaks. The note shows how they are financing this, but, despite the uncertainties, they are sticking with their very optimistic $1.6 billion. I suppose if you slipped the cost estimate to the other side of the bell curve, it would be quite high.

Chile Should Build a Nuclear Plant

Article

That means in the case of Chile, a power plant located in the Maule or Bio Bio regions would be designed to safely withstand an earthquake greater than 9.5-magnitude, which is the strength of a 1960 earthquake, the strongest on record, which flattened the southern city of Valdivia.

For Chile, I think the PGV is very controlled with this type of earthquake. The key is to find some solid rock, and then you can build a nuclear plant, provided you use modern explicit analysis techniques, and the ground velocity time history. Use the old crap and you get a PGA of 2g or something ridiculous.

NRU Delayed Another Few Days

Article

Oh, the Chinese Water Torture! Always delayed drip by drip. Buddy Harbles sent me their latest video. You can see how thin the aluminum wall is, and the tremendous stress cause by applying a big goop of molten metal. Since this vessel is peppered to ratshit by corrosion, something else is going to give. Just like I recently scrapped my 93 Camry instead of replacing the engine. You can't do these things to an old jalopy without something else going.

Review Asus O Play Air

Link

Oh! Is this a toy or what! I had to get it for the upstairs exercise room. The old rabbit ears weren't working anymore for the little lcd tv. This really works, and connects with my Mediatomb media server on a Linux machine.

The wireless n pickup is unbelievable, all bars! I have cards that always show a weak signal, but this is very high speed. So I can show all my movies (all legal! snork), and the spoose can check up on her fav. old shows that also fell into my lap.

As soon as you get it, you have to upgrade the firmware, as with all these things. You just download it from Asus, put it on a usb thing, and start the update process. This latest version has internet radio and tv. I love to listen to Bollywood music when I dance on my treadmill. Hooka! Hooka! Moomble moomble! I'm getting good with the words!

It doesn't do youtube yet for the internet tv, but I'm sure that's in the next release of the firmware.

Four stars! or 10 Ali ali, moomba, joomba!

British guys actually worry about n-waste geology

Article

It's an interesting article. Although they found people who would actually love a facility, the geology may stink. But nobody knows because they haven't looked!

Now, we all know that the most secretive of all secret projects is the attempt to put n-waste underground at Bruce. Personally, I see no difference between 'low' or 'high' level waste in Canada. The used fuel bundles are quite well sealed in their ceramic packaging. However, it serves as a useful political delineation. "Oh look, dahling, it's only low level waste, pooh, pooh!"

I shall follow this story to see how they actually look at the geology. You can take a 'high altitude' look at the regional geologic history, or you can take a very narrow look at a single horizon in a single borehole. We know what Bruce did, and we wait for Britain....

Earthquake Run is Over

Here is my prediction: Our current run of earthquakes is over with, and now we shall sink into our blissful ignorance. Normally, when we have had an earthquake cluster, people got all hot and bothered about it, and asked questions about their own situation. Local experts were keen to say how 'This Could Happen Here!'.

This time people went out of their way to pooh-pooh this meaningless cluster as meaningless. I mean, really!

We shall all go back to sleep, rise the next time there is an earthquake, and be happy we dodged the bullet. :)

Turkey Earthquake Fun Facts

Turkey must be the most mushed-up country in the world, in regard to tectonics. It's between all these anvils of plates, trying to push it around.

But still, it's no Chile, in terms of how often a big quake hits a given piece of ground. You can see that everything is fairly diffuse, but a few of the major fault zones concentrate the strain a bit. The fact that every single earthquake knocks down crappy buildings here, shows that it might be a hundred years or more between quakes for any given piece of real estate. Well beyond living memory (just like Toronto!!).

An M7.0 right under Istanbul might resemble Haiti. Although they have building codes, we know from their last earthquake that they like to diddle their concrete and steel.

Turkey Earthquake Continues Cluster

Article

Yeah for weirdo coincidences! Amazing how they happen all the time. These things happen all the time, but with everybody alert it will look like:

Quakemaggedon!

Good-bye to an intellectual depressive

Article

I was like that, always intellectual, many interests, and frequently depressed. This is hereditary, and at age 40 it really kicks in. I was going that way, and could have easily walked into the woods on a cold winter's day.

Luckily, I got the shock of my life from another family member with the same thing, and went to a psychiatrist. Amazing what a horrendous social stigma is attached to that act! The poor guy's only a doctor with extra experience in brain pills! No couch, just a crummy office.

I was cured by a simple pill. Really, it's just a nutrient deficiency in the brain. But Hollywood really screws it up. And the bizarre thing is that people in this state of mind will never seek help themselves. There should be a conclusive blood test that everybody over 40 gets, just like the finger up the bum! If it showed a prostate problem you would take the goddamn pill!

So, adopt a depressive today! Challenge them to take the pills for a while, just to see. Or try any other nasty trick you can think of. You may be saving a life.

Somebody Else Writes about Big Becky!

Big Becky Goes Bust

I'm not writing about the tunnel anymore, but when I saw the title of this, I thought: "OMG! The bearing's finally gone!". But no, it is a nice comment about the general situation.

The only comment I have is that the $1.6 billion is nowhere near the true final cost! I always thought that this estimate was based on the fact that everything would be golden from that point on, just like they had mentioned in their journal. If OPG is now sucking off the 'stranded debt' honey-pot, then it doesn't matter if the cost goes up to a few billion! :)

Niagara Tunnel - I throw in the towel

The Niagara tunnel guys finally reported their progress after I politely mentioned it in my blog. I'm tired of torturing these guys, who are already tortured by a measly 9 m a day, under crackling high stresses. I'm making up a rubber stamp for all further comment on this, a permanent post, if you wish.

Niagara Tunnel Progress

The tunnel proceeds at a gold-medal slow pace, caused by nursing the main bearing which is due to blow any minute. High stresses and hard rock take their toll.

Lining the tunnel proceeds at a break-neck speed.

There, let that be the last of it!

AECL 'Sinkhole' gets more money - yada yada

Article

No comment.

Global Earthquaking - The Hockey Stick

Global Earthquaking - (Ignore the axis labels)

Yes, I have proof in this graph that we will soon die under a blizzard of earthquakes! I have an identical graph (ignoring the labels) that shows to me Internet traffic. Obviously internet use is causing earthquakes! I propose an Internet Tax, with all the money going to me!

I'm going to do a movie - "The Truth is a Pain in the Ass". It will be streamed on the internet.

Article

M6.4 Earthquake in Taiwan

My, my, isn't this the week for earthquakes? Not many earthquakes actually hit the land in Taiwan, but this one will probably knock down a few slopes.

Depression sets in on Niagara Tunnel

Yes, you poor people, I understand your situation. I suffered from classic male mid-life depression, that makes scientists disappear. I got the tiny pills to cure it.

But it's hard to cure depression for a tunnel, perhaps as difficult as pumping up Team Canada for the last period! All I ask for is a simple report bi-monthly (or is it bi-weekly, or half-monthly?). But I know, it's as difficult as a depressed man shaving in the morning.

Cheer up! You've got the biggest tunneling machine in the world, although it is the slowest. You are encountering new science everyday, although we will never learn anything from it. You are boldly going where angels fear to tread!

And pictures! You used to do such wonderful pictures. I can understand how depression takes all the zing out life.

I am your only audience. Be happy in that! I just want the reports, so I can make fun of them. You are making me happy! Nobody reads my blog, and nobody clicks on my ads. It's not as though I can make the Auditor General come up with a real estimate of your total costs, which would be in the billions.

This is the party of a lifetime! Zoom through that rock, and throw in steel sets right away. Nothing should crack for 10 years or more. Move fast through the overbreak repairs, and throw in that unreinforced concrete lining. Should be okay. Seek professional help for your depression.

Earthquake: Group Waves and Soil Basins

I was just thinking of smug California, thinking their building codes would keep them sitting pretty in an earthquake.

It takes me back to my favourite topic: the cottage! Sitting on the deck, with a beer, I have almost the whole lake in front of me. Another beer, and I visualize it as a California soil basin. Big boats zoom around, and the basin is filled with waves, like an earthquake! (Beers do that to me!). Once in a while, the waves suddenly combine to produce a super wave, which is a group wave lasts a few seconds, and travels along as a wave, but much slower.

When I was towing the little kids on their tubes, I would chase these waves, in order to make them fly. There was great honour in being tossed 6 feet in the air, and still staying on the tube! They were very difficult to hit, being so ephemeral in nature.

My mind drifts to the beach off Cancun. I was a young wild guy, and chose to body surf on the public beach facing the ocean. It was pretty wild that day, but I didn't go any deeper than my waist. I would swim out, then turn around and try to ride a wave. Naturally, I was terrible at it! But, la, la, la, I swam out to another wave. Suddenly, this unbelievable wave loomed in front of me! The water I was swimming in totally sucked away to the ground! The wave hit me head on, and there I was in a washing machine. I was ready for this, knowing it would only last 10 seconds, and looking at the bubbles to see which way was up.

OMG! I felt I barely came out of that. So that was it for body surfing, and I went to look for sea shells, only going up to my knees. 10 minutes later I was smashed by another huge wave, and was knocked down. I gave up on my wading.

Now, this doesn't have anything to do with microbursts and sailing ships, but it does have something to do with soil basins. It took a long time to get a handle on oceanic super-waves, pretty well waiting for satellites. And it will take a long time to prove super-waves on soil basins. The current modeling videos show nice jiggly basins, resembling soft jello.

But eye witness accounts show something different. People have seen these things on soil basins, much like my cottage watching. This has always been pooh-poohed, since individual seismic wave move too rapidly to be seen. But these group waves march across the soil basin, like soil tornadoes, crunching everything in their path. The only thing left is a very confusing pattern showing some areas devastated, and some areas relatively untouched.

We'll never measure these things, unless we do something brilliant. We would need something like real-time interference radar, installed on high points, and beaming over the basin. I don't see that coming soon.

So California, enjoy your smugness, keep up the big party, put everybody in jail, and spend more than you earn. We are all watching. :)

Earthquake in the Heart of New Madrid Darkness

Look at that! Right near the bullseye of the big one! Is this place dead? Never going to put out another gob-splitter? Bah!

Chile Earthquake - The Brains Speak Out

Article

Wow, they got all the big brains of seismic making the usual rounds of "What about me? - California". It's very interesting, but I'm not reading it all, since it's the same-old I've read before. I don't see anybody making good comments about crappy building codes - like me!

In fact, I read another article that was rather smug. It went on about bridge failures in Chile, and how they weren't as good as the Caltrans patch-ups. Oh Please! Don't be smug about something that hasn't been tested! I am sure that if California got hit with a firm-ground 50 cm/s velocity pulse, we would see some major surprises about their assumptions. 5 m/s on the basins would interesting!

Chile Earthquake - What about Toronto?

Article

"The prediction is Ohio could have a 7.2," he said, referring to the potential magnitude on the Richter scale. "If we had a magnitude 7, that would be devastating."

Ah, Come on!! Ohio doesn't have the monopoly on earthquakes! Their zones are identical to Toronto, but they've had a few earthquakes recently. Thus, the intelligent response to the classic question: "What about me?"

In Toronto, it's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". In honour of this great attitude, I shall make up a response from a fictional Toronto Emergency Old Boys Drinking Association (TEOB):

TEOB Declares No Chance of Chile M8.8 Hitting Toronto

Toronto - Toronto citizens can sleep safely under their bookcases, knowing that an M8.8 will not happen here.

TEOB Head Marvin Garvin said: "We can't have that M8.8 happening here, since it already happened in Chile."

He also is quoted as saying: "We shall hold the line, and continuing doing what we don't do about the ridiculous chance of an earthquake hitting Toronto. Let other people worry about it!"

Chile Earthquake Tsunami - Run when the water goes!

Article

It may turn out that there were more deaths due to the tsunami, than the ground shaking. We expect this with subduction earthquakes. With this fault motion, the main ground pulse (Fist of God) is directed down into the earth, resulting in a low PGV on the surface.

This guy survived because he saw all the water disappear, and knew to run like hell! You can't survive a 30 foot wall of water full of cars.

Chile Earthquake - USArray

A rather neat, but useless demonstration of the power of a transportable array. This shows the seismic waves arriving from the M8.8. Close examination of seismic waves allows one to figure out the velocity structure of the crust directly beneath the array. The seismometers are then moved to the next zone.