What would Houston look like if an earthquake occurred?

At KPRC 2, we are committed to keeping Houston residents informed. As part of the new Ask 2 series, the newsroom will answer your questions about everything in Houston.

Question: What would Houston look like if an earthquake occurred? I know it is clay and sand, so will this help or will it hurt?

Answer: Obviously, this Channel 2 viewer is looking for an answer to a hypothetical question. The first thing anyone should read this to understand is that earthquakes are extremely rare statewide, not to mention southeast southeast Texas. Very small earthquakes were recorded in the region, but no major earthquakes occurred. Even small ones are almost non-existent.

The bottom line is that we have enough to worry about hurricanes here, so please don’t lose sleep due to earthquakes!

For the sake of our curious scenes, let’s delve a little further into the hypothesis. In a small earthquake, we can barely feel it, Houston will be fine. However, a major earthquake would be a disaster. Because of the loamy sandy soils in Houston, a large earthquake may cause the Earth to take on liquid properties – a process called liquefaction. Buildings are more likely to lose their feet, break apart and start sinking. Highways will either suffer from major damage or completely collapse.

The science behind this phenomenon is interesting. It comes with the types of waves generated by earthquakes:

P waves: These are “prime” waves because they are the fastest and first ones that you feel in an earthquake. P waves are pressure waves that operate horizontally, shaking the ground from side to side.

P waves are pressure waves that shake the earth horizontally. Photo courtesy of USGS

S waves: These are called “secondary” waves because they move at a lower speed. It is felt after the P. waves S waves rock the Earth vertically and resemble waves on the ocean. They have tops and pans.

S waves rock the earth vertically. These waves are responsible for liquefying the soft soil in an earthquake. Photo courtesy of USGS

Both P and S waves cause earthquake damage, but S waves often do more damage. They are responsible for liquefaction, which turns soft, granular soil (clay, silt and sand) into something like quicksand.

Fluid is more dangerous in waterlogged soils. S waves cause the separation of grains in the soil, which breaks the stable frictional force between the grains. Water fills the space between the grains and allows the soil to flow freely, acting as a viscous liquid more than a solid.

This video demonstrating liquefaction from embedded seismology research institutions explains how the process works.

Unlike soft and granular soils, the foundation is impervious to liquefying as it is solid. It moves as a single unit during an earthquake and provides more stability to the structures built on it.

Houston’s soil is swampy and muddy greenland, so you can imagine what would happen if we witnessed a major earthquake here. It is very likely that buildings will begin to collapse and sink to the ground. The highways will collapse.

San Francisco, highly vulnerable to large earthquakes, is predominantly built of bedrock but also has more granular soil regions. The city’s marina district is one of these areas and it has very poor prices for earthquakes. It would be similar to Houston in terms of stability.

In the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Britta earthquake that struck the Gulf, buildings in the Marina District were destroyed by liquefaction.

The major earthquake in 1906 caused severe damage to San Francisco. Built on soft soil, these buildings were destroyed by liquefaction. Photo courtesy of USGS. The Marina District of San Francisco was severely damaged during the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Photo courtesy of USGS.

During the Loma Prieta earthquake, part of the approach to the Gulf Bridge, which was built on fine sandy soil, collapsed, killing 42 people.

This highway, part of the San Francisco Bay Bridge approach, collapsed during the Loma Bretta earthquake in 1989. 42 people died as a result of the crash. Photo courtesy of USGS.

So, if Houston was hit by a major earthquake – which, again, would not happen – it would be possible to do damage similar to the one described above. This is of course virtual.

Fortunately, we live away from any hot earthquake regions!

Have a burning question related to H-Town? Submit it our way, and we will try to find an answer.

Copyright 2020 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.

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