Monday, December 29, 2008

The Wasatch Front Regional Council Pushes its "Natural Disasters Mitigation Plan"

Something additional for WFRC planners to consider, perhaps?

This morning's Standard-Examiner reports that the Wasatch Front Regional Council is pushing full steam ahead to push cities, counties and the state to adopt a disaster mitigation plan for the Wasatch Front region. Mitch Shawn's opening paragraphs provide the gist:
LAYTON — If the Top of Utah ever has a major disaster, it will likely be measured by Richter scale.
The Wasatch Front Regional Council has released the final draft of the 2008 Natural Hazards and Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan and will be looking for cities, counties and the state to adopt it in the next few months.
The plan identifies possible hazards in Davis, Morgan, Salt Lake, Tooele and Weber counties and includes strategies to eliminate or minimize the effects of wildfires, floods, severe weather, earthquakes or any other major disaster.
“Our Katrina will be a major earthquake,” said DeeEll Fifield, WFRC pre-disaster mitigation planner. “This region’s No. 1 identified risk is an earthquake.”
More from this morning's Std-Ex story:
According to the plan, which is available for review at wfrc.org, the Top of Utah’s Wasatch Fault Zone is an active fault zone that can produce a large 7.3 to 7.5 Richter magnitude earthquake on average every 300 to 400 years.
Davis County contains the highest density of faults in the entire state of Utah. Weber County has had two earthquakes with a Richter magnitude between 5.0 and 5.5 since 1894. Weber County has also felt earthquakes that did not have their epicenters within the county.
While the WCRC is working on this, we're hoping these government bureaucrats haven't completely overlooked another potential local natural disaster just waiting to happen, one which would make a 7.5 Richter scale earthquake seem like a pleasant stroll on the beach:
The Yellowstone Supervolcano
In this latter connection, (and in a truly serendipitous coincidence of timing,) here's something interesting that popped up just this morning on the TYWKIWDBI Blog:
Is the Yellowstone caldera becoming more active?
From the above-linked blog 12/28/08 article:
There was a swarm of sixteen earthquakes in 24 hours this weekend (map above, updates at this link). It probably is not significant, but it is worth remembering that the Yellowstone caldera is a hotspot above a supervolcano, the eruption of which would mean theendoflifeasweknowit, at least for the United States. The Yellowstone one has erupted approximately every 600,000 years, and the last eruption was... lets see... 600,000 years ago.
Something additional for WFRC planners to consider, perhaps?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm, it would appear that the final days are here. If Yellowstone erupts to the magnitude predicted, it will mean the end of civilization as we know it.
Quite possibly the bibles predictions will come true, and the earth will be cleansed by fire.

Oh well, buy a car, hawk your house, and spend like there is no tomorrow.

For tomorrow we may all be gone. No big deal, Iam not afraid.

Anonymous said...

That's high adventure! And we live here in OTown, the high-adventure recreation mecca! Maybe Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey, THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE, Wayne Peterson -- leader of his own famed and feared Squirrel Patrol -- Tom Cavendish, Short-deck, Addled Ed Allen, Bernie Allen and GTrain can market a high-adventure proposed THE GONDOLA over gigantic Godfey-forehead-sized chasms, caverns and gorges wrought by high-adventure earthquakes. Maybe we can get 10 percent of the three million people who drive by OTown on their way to Jackson Hole to hop on proposed THE GONDOLA? Will the Gondola-Examiner supports proposed THE EARTHQUAKE GONDOLA?; its editorial board seems to think allocating $200,000 from the city's budget will result in dozens of articles in earthquake magazines that will cement our reputation as the high-adveture recreation mecca. "We support the urban gondola," wrote the Gondola-Examiner. "Let's get behind Godfrey, [Jeff] Lowe and the ice tower," these morons further "opined." I will lead a charge of sugar-high, Thorazine-doped involved high-adventure citizens on a city council chamber charge: "Take the next step! Take the next step! Take the next step! Take the next step!" We will arrive at the municipal building in decal-emblazoned vehicles and yellow trucks, champions of high-adventure and abhorrers of eggheads with anti-business bias. I have the emails; I was in the room. Again, IT WILL BE MADE KNOWN!

THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE

Anonymous said...

It appears that the only thing left for us to do is sit down, put our heads between our legs as far as we can and kiss our butts goodbye!

Anonymous said...

Three more earthquakes within the past 45 minutes!

Recent earthquakes for Yellowstone

Anonymous said...

Just to keep this in perspective, "In 2002 alone, there were more than 2350 earthquakes at Yellowstone." From and NPS article on the Yellowstone caldera.

Anonymous said...

As Reno continues it's journey west growing farther and farther away and the Great Basin continues stretching, lack of activity on our local faults causes great concern.
I wonder how much added cost it would be to make the sacred urban gondola earthquake proof, or if having lying little matty's prefered street car line running primarily on an old lakebed is very prudent. Lakebeds are the most dangerous due to liquification. I wonder if the study will consider this as lying little matty attempts to reverse the conclussions of the very recent study completed just a couple years ago?
We are all well aware that this City is , and will continue to be nothing without a high adventure urban gondola that leads to exactly no where. Just an old washed up railroad town, nothing sexy in that.

Anonymous said...

Rudi!

Speaking for the WCRF council, I'll just say we forgot to plan for this.

It's a low probability event, Rudi; and we on the commission recommend that should just take a "lude," and Chill.

Anonymous said...

We'll never have any natural disasters while my little lover Matthew Godfrey) is in control.

He gets updates every day from God.

The little guy in my Ward rocks my world!

Anonymous said...

We'll I must say I thought Matt was my lover, it now appears he is involved with more than myself.

I am disappointed.

Anonymous said...

Sorry girls, Matt's main squeaze is still Stu, especially when they dress up in biker drag and meet in the head at Angelo's for a little stress relieving canoodling.

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, I can picture it now. Matty and Stu in thier panties at Angelos restroom, quarters in their sweaty hands making the purchase of disposable feather pillows, then the pillow fight, with feathers flying all around the two, then the canoodling after the fight. Wow thats what I imagine everytime the girls go to the bathroom together. Pillow fights in their panties.

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