Earth news: Dr. Abbott's TV Show About LA Earthquakes

July 30, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

Here is an excellent TV show about the possible outcomes of various earthquakes in California. It is extremely informative. Professor Abbott mentions water, gas and power that runs across several very major earthquake fault zones including the biggest water/energy/travel systems criss cross the San Andreas. All Californian residents must learn from the past. One of my sisters would have died in the Northridge quake because her apartment building pancaked. But she was sleeping elsewhere that fateful night.

Here is a CNN screen shot showing the epicenter of today's quake. Note the suburban houses and the golf course that are right on top of this pressure point shoving things upwards! The professor in the video talks about all this.

Through live-action demonstrations and vivid animations, Dr. Pat Abbott explains how earthquakes have shaped the scenery and the character of the greater Los Angeles area. Dr. Abbott shows how faults capable of large earthquakes lie beneath most of the area, posing great risk to the millions of people living in earthquake country. Animations illustrate how and why earthquakes happen, how mountains and valleys have formed as a result, how the ground will shake in large earthquakes, and why this shaking is so destructive to buildings. Dr. Abbott also shows how to evaluate your home for earthquake safety and explains how to reduce the devastating effects of earthquakes. This video is part of Dr. Abbott's "Written in Stone" series.

The earthquake expert, Dr. Lucy Stone, is playing one of my favorite instruments, the Viola De Gamba.

In today's CNN news, a mother recorded how a huge TV screen nearly fell on her and her baby. Securing it with straps would have prevented a potential tragedy.