One by one, homes in Calif. subdivision sinking

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http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...ass&action=3&lang=en&_LT=UNLC_USNWU00L3_UNEWS

LAKEPORT, Calif. (AP) — Scott and Robin Spivey had a sinking feeling that something was wrong with their home when cracks began snaking across their walls in March.

The cracks soon turned into gaping fractures, and within two weeks their 600-square-foot garage broke from the house and the entire property — manicured lawn and all — dropped 10 feet below the street.

It wasn't long before the houses on both sides collapsed as the ground gave way in the Spivey's neighborhood in Lake County, about 100 miles north of San Francisco.

"We want to know what is going on here," said Scott Spivey, a former city building inspector who had lived in his four-bedroom, Tudor-style dream home for 11 years.

Eight homes are now abandoned and 10 more are under notice of imminent evacuation as a hilltop with sweeping vistas of Clear Lake and the Mount Konocti volcano swallows the subdivision built 30 years ago.............

More at link.....
 
I just read this on my homepage. WoW! This is alarming. Why now are homes in his area sinking?
 
So far insurance companies have left the owners of the homes — valued between $200,000 and $250,000, or twice the median price in the county — dangling too. Subsidence is not covered, homeowners said. So until someone figures out whether something else is going on, they'll be in limbo.

How awful and the houses may not be covered by insurance.
 
I just read this on my homepage. WoW! This is alarming. Why now are homes in his area sinking?

So far, it's not known why this is happening. From the article:

Officials believe water that has bubbled to the surface is playing a role in the destruction. But nobody can explain why suddenly there is plentiful water atop the hill in a county with groundwater shortages.

"That's the big question," said Scott De Leon, county public works director. "We have a dormant volcano, and I'm certain a lot of things that happen here (in Lake County) are a result of that, but we don't know about this."

Other development on similar soil in the county is stable, county officials said.
 
So far, it's not known why this is happening. From the article:
Yes, I read the article. :seeya:
I can't imagine what these homeowners are going through. Their homes are sinking for an unknown reason, by no fault of their own. Then they find out they may have no help! :banghead:
:moo:
 
We have not had a good "sudden" quake in a while here; I suspect that there has been ground movement, but of the "slow" type. These slow quakes, or "silent quakes", happen more than we realize, but do not shake the ground like a sudden quake does.

Here's some interesting reading about this type of quake - it's not much discussed, and even most folk in EQ country don't know about it...but it does happen, and can be hugely destructive in their own way.

http://www.geotimes.org/june01/silent_earthquakes.html

And this one
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-threat-of-silent-quakes

I'm thinking this is something which is either the primary cause or a related cause of the destruction going on.

Best-
Herding Cats
 
Creepy and sad, glad no one was physically hurt! I'm in Alaska and we have earthquakes frequently, kinda creeps me out because I always fear something like that happening! Those poor people..
 
Welcome to WS, DanielleMiriya!

:welcome:

Agree, this has got to be so devastating for these owners. Since it seems to be some type of natural happening, wonder if the state could declare it a natural disaster so they would have some recourse if insurance won't cover their losses.
 
California's broke; they wouldn't declare it a natural disaster unless it took lives, I don't think. Right now it's simply (and thankfully) property damage, so I doubt that the state will help.

I do believe more and more that it's a silent quake, the more I think about it and the more I read up on this type of quake.

Danielle, I completely "get" that fear of quakes, as I live here in So. CA. But unlike here, you've got incredible scenery and a beautiful state to help balance things out. Me? Just a lot of smog and heat and over crowding. Sigh.

Best-
Herding Cats
 
Unless the homeowner has a separate "subsidence insurance" policy, regular homeowner's insurance will NOT pay on this type of a claim. Here in Western Pennsylvania we have quite a bit of subsidence due to old coal mines.
 
...Danielle, I completely "get" that fear of quakes, as I live here in So. CA. But unlike here, you've got incredible scenery and a beautiful state to help balance things out. Me? Just a lot of smog and heat and over crowding. Sigh.

Best-
Herding Cats

No one said you have to live in Orange County, HC!

California is a beautiful state. I have views of two 11,000-foot mountains from my backyard! Before I moved here, I lived a couple of blocks from a beach with a 50-mile bike path.

And that doesn't even count the most beautiful city in the U.S. (San Francisco) and the relatively rural, wooded and mountainous northern half of the state!
 
You're absolutely right, of course, Nova.

(But I don't live in the OC. LOL)

Best-
Herding Cats
 
California IS a beautiful state. I have lived in some of the most beautiful areas: Mendocino, with it's rugged coastline and ancient redwood forests was among the most gorgeous areas. And San Francisco, the Sunset District, a lovely family oriented area with Craftsman and Victorian homes and wonderful Italian restaurants. And Berkeley, where i went to school, but got my REAL education on the wild streets.
Los Altos, the lovely safe suburb of my idyllic childhood. And Venice Beach, the canals, and the microcosm, where I lived out the first 20 years of my marriage and family life. And Westlake Village, the Stepford Town where we have settled the past 10 yrs, but are itching to make our escape from.
 

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