Whidbey Island Landslide

And if anyone wants to see the Island county data on the affected area (before the slide) I have added a screen shot of the google earth page with the details. In the Kingfisher album page 7
Very useful tool (If available for your area) when thinking of buying property. It tells you what the agent and seller always seem to forget :-) (Sorry Tom, not you of course)

M
 
That does look really useful. I think you may have explained this above, but for those of us who are not yet conversant in Google Earth, can you explain how one gets this overlay? Is it already there in GE and you just have to toggle it somehow? Or did you import it from elsewhere, or...?

Thanks
 
Now I have to do a "Barry" and admit that I have forgotten how I got this into my google earth :oops:

It is likely that I found it under some official website for WA and Island county and it somehow gave me an option to import it into Google. I have tried to find the same thing for other counties/states etc and had no luck.

The great thing about this site is that it is highly likely that someone on here knows how to do it. :lol:

M
 
Good Morning Dusty,
Nice to "hear" from you! Glad to know that you are not in the slide area!
Hope that you are enjoying that gorgeous Washington State sunshine this morning. Seems like summer here! :hot
 
Thanks Dave, and we are really enjoying the sun. Gray whale out in front of the house a few minutes ago -- life on Whidbey isn't all bad!

Happy Easter to all!

Dusty
 
Boy my head was somewhere else when I listed the brats on Whidbey. I can only blame it on salt water cruising deprivation! Time to get a fresh injection of salt water. :oops: :oops:
 
And you have a perfect weekend for it Barry :-)
Must admit you had me worried for a moment, I thought maybe we had moved and I had forgotten. Good job I have GPS on my phone so I could see. (if I can find the damned phone....)

Merv
 
And right now we are watching a water ski guy out in front of the house. Very good too, doing jumps and flips.

So best pick the East side of Whidbey, huh? We did, and have enjoyed it for 35 years. That slide stuff ain't good.

Dusty
 
Grumpy":3khoiw95 said:
For Bill, there is a bit more about the geology here:-

http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/news/200652971.html

M
Click to expand...

Property located about 2 miles south of the Ledgewood slide. West side of Whidbey Island looking across to Port Townsend:

Back about 2009 Joe and my nephew put a 12 ft ladder over the edge of the bluff. Then they took a 32' ladder down to a ledge. Went down the 32' ladder to another ledge and were able to decend another 50-60 feet where they tied off a 100 foot commercial crab line and then rappelled to the beach. Joe was able to see that it was all glacial till with pure sand stratus. Walking the beach Joe could see that many trees of various species and ages littered the beach with the root ball against the bluff along with kelp and seaweed tangled in the branches. This would seem to indicate an ongoing erosion problem. Joe had many one-on-one geological lessons from Bill (Halcyon) when we cruised together. So, thanks Bill, for those adventures that we shared :)

Should a significant earthquake occur, there will be a lot of high bluff land that will become beach front property. It's not where we would choose to live.
 
Good memories of the fine times shared with R-Matey. One of our discussions, as I recall, centered on the glacial deposits in the San Juan's and PAC NW. We discussed their instability and susceptibility to erosion and slides. Also I recall good chats about the seismicity of the NW, and that many residents seemed unaware of the high risk both of earthquakes and tsunamis. Then, we talked of the coupling of high seismic risk with water-saturated (above and below sea level) glacial debris.

The recent slide on on Whidbey is apparently related to high rainfall and loose glacial sediment, coupled with beach erosion. BUT I surely agree with the idea that the far greater risk there (and elsewhere in the PAC NW) is with seismic coupling -- the combo of high rainfall, glacial debris, high slope angles, and earthquake is 'dynamite.' The effects could be widespread and damaging to many. Planning agencies SHOULD have, and available to the public, studies and maps outlining areas of especially high risk. Local colleges and universities (geology or environmental science) departments might be another source of information.

PS - thanks Grumpy for the link
 
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ ... e_2013.pdf :wink:

This is a very interesting report from the DNR geologists. It explains the geologic timeline of previous slides, and the type of slide, which has a rotational component. It started very deep and had an upward movement at the beach. The slide happened close to high tide but because of the direction of movement and the fact that the slide took several minutes, not seconds, there was probably no noticeable wave produced.

Check out the photos. Very interesting. The man who lived in the house that was destroyed had enough time to gather his thoughts, get out of the house into his truck and drive down the road to where it was then covered with debris, then backed up the hill out of the slide area, and called 911.

There is a link to the geologic quadrangle map Bill. It shows the previous large slide which probably happened 11,000 years ago. The national news has said that this has been a wet year on Whidbey, but that is not accurate. Last year was very wet, but it is debatable whether water was a player in this. No seismic activity was noted. But, that is one of the many places in the Puget Sound region that I would not want to be during an earthquake!

This type of slide is not just a danger along beach front property. In 2009 the Nile Valley slide in Eastern Washington displaced much more material and destroyed more homes. Both slides were of the same type, and both have had much larger slides during the last 10 to 20000 years.

Robbi
 
Good comments, Robbi and an informative link. As you point out, slides are not just along coastal areas - but, as you say, are usually in areas that have previously had slides. Forewarned is forearmed.

Similar to the 'ditch bag' we carried on our boat (and now in our car), we think it wise to have one in a home (unless the bag in boat or car is easily accessible from home). In the PAC NW it could sustain you after an earthquake (or other) emergency until emergency links are re-established.
 
Now you know why, even though we deliberately avoided certain areas, we were always happy to have the boat in our backyard :-)

M
 
Bill and El.....thanks for checking in on all your friends on Whidbey. As you know, we live on the west side of Whidbey near Fort Ebey overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Admiralty Inlet, but at at a very safe distance from the nearby mid-bank bluff. We didn't build directly on the bluff due to our familiarity with frequent bluff erosion/slide issues over on the Olympic Peninsula. We have been in the Ledgewood area many times, and the view is mesmerizing to say the least, and apparently worth the gamble for some to take the chance and build and live there on the bluff. All it takes is just one look at this remarkable view. But drives down to the Ledgewood beach access area and a look back up at the extremely steep and unstable hillside plainly reveal the risks involved.......at least to anyone who has lived for a time in Western Washington.

With that said, I can well appreciate your expertise as a geologist. Common sense, science, geology etc are often overlooked and undervalued as people demand to live on popular flood plains, eroding bluffs, and beachfront areas.....many with horrific reputations for previous homeowners.

We are really saddened, as I know all the C-Brats are, to see the devastation in the beautiful Ledgewood area, and the high personal price that some of our Whidbey neighbors are experiencing. We wish them the best, and they are in our thoughts and prayers.
 
to our Polnell Shores home on Whidbey from a two week trip to work on our Bozeman house, which we are (hopefully) in the process of selling. We, and our new-to-us house, are fine. On stable ground, according to the geological survey, well inland with only a distant waterview. We are on the east side looking south over our neighbors' lawns down Saratoga Passage toward and past Camano Island. But one of our new neighbors, an older lady thankfully in assisted living, has a waterfront view home on the edge of a cliff over the beach that is rated unstable. She and her now-deceased husband built it many decades ago, loving the spectacular view. We feel for her concern, but are happy she now lives elsewhere.

In Montana, we were within 90 miles of a simmering caldera that will make Hiroshima look like a firecracker, and had increasingly bad fires every summer, earthquakes, spells of sub-zero weather, snow to shovel, grizzlies, wolves, rattlesnakes, etc., etc., etc. It was a great place to live in spite of all that. After 71 good years on the planet, I wasn't too worried about our latest move, although I did make certain to stay well away from unstable bluff property, regardless of the good views. But some people feel it is worth it, I guess, and are willing to accept the risks.

Thanks for worrying about us.

Ferd and Beth Johns, now of Whidbey Island, and plenty happy about it!
 
I always love it when El and Bill chime in....I once went on the Lake Powell Cruise with them and Bill talked about the area Geology... I felt like when the cruise was over I should get 3 units of credit... what a great course in geology..

I sure miss you guys.. time to buy another boat.

Joel
SEA3PO
 
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