Category: Geologic Hazards

The hidden force behind basement and foundation problems Article by: Hobart M. King, Ph.D., RPG Building damage: Note displaced bricks and inward deflection of foundation. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Photo. Click to Enlarge. What is an "Expansive Soil"? Expansive soils contain minerals such as smectite clays that are capable of absorbing water.

Lightning is not uniformly distributed across the Earth. Article by: Hobart M. King, Ph.D., RPG World Lightning Map: The map above shows the average yearly counts of lightning flashes per square kilometer based on data collected by NASA's Lightning Imaging Sensor on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite between 1995 and 2002.

Potentially the most damaging and deadly impact of a hurricane Article by: Hobart M. King, Ph.D., RPG Storm surge: This illustration shows how hurricane winds can push a pile of water across the ocean surface in the direction that the hurricane is travelling. The extremely low pressure under the eye of the storm allows the surface of the water to rise a few feet.

Hurricane Fran: Satellite image of a hurricane named "Fran." Hurricane Fran was a large, powerful, destructive hurricane that made landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina on September 5, 1996. Fran was the sixth named storm of the 1996 hurricane season. It was so destructive that the name "Fran" was retired from use.

2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 Hurricane Katrina: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico approaching the coast. NOAA Image. How Big of a Storm Gets a Name? The World Meteorological Organization is in charge of assigning names to tropical storms that originate in the Atlantic Ocean and reach a sustained wind speed of 39 miles per hour.

Liquefaction in Japan: Tilted apartment buildings at Kawagishi cho, Niigata, Japan; the soils beneath these buildings liquefied during an earthquake in 1964 and provided little support for the building foundations. These tilted buildings and liquefaction in this area are probably the most well known examples of liquefaction and loss of bearing strength.