Irvine - liquification zone?

G

gaab

New member
Hi all,

I've read in a few posts that Irvine is considered a liquification zone, I assume this may occur as a result of a large earthquake.  In Japan those homes/structures that are in areas that have been zoned that way suffered liquefaction of varying degrees during the many earthquakes and aftershocks that have occurred since mid-March.

Many homes are repairable but not likely to be sold again.  I'm unaffected as I live on very solid ground.  However I'm concerned and a bit confused how Irvine could be considered zoned in this way as it's so far inland and I presume on regular land vs. reclaimed land.

So my question is - how much of a concern is this really ?  I would not want to spend close to a million dollars on a home to discover it and the land are unusable after "escaping" a relatively large earthquake.
 
not sure where you live. but if there is an earthquake that brings irvine homes tumbling down chances are your home will also be coming down. 

Can we just stop with all of the worrying about various places?  Im kind of tired of people asking questions about whether its safe to live 1.99 miles from a landfill or if its safer to be 2.1 miles away, about breathing air from a neighboring toll road, about all of the underground plume.  You people who worry about this stuff are kind of nuts. 

You live in southern california and breath shitty air every day. You probably are going to get brain cancer from talking on your cell phone all day. Im going to get cancer from eating microwaved food everyday. Im sure the hour i spend on the freeway breathing shitty air will cause some sort of health problem.  Your house gets electricity from high voltage power lines, that cant be good. I eat alot of red meat, so im sure ill get a heart attack at some point that may just kill me.  Am i missing anything?
 
qwerty said:
not sure where you live. but if there is an earthquake that brings irvine homes tumbling down chances are your home will also be coming down. 

Can we just stop with all of the worrying about various places?  Im kind of tired of people asking questions about whether its safe to live 1.99 miles from a landfill or if its safer to be 2.1 miles away, about breathing air from a neighboring toll road, about all of the underground plume.  You people who worry about this stuff are kind of nuts. 

You live in southern california and breath shitty air every day. You probably are going to get brain cancer from talking on your cell phone all day. Im going to get cancer from eating microwaved food everyday. Im sure the hour i spend on the freeway breathing shitty air will cause some sort of health problem.  Your house gets electricity from high voltage power lines, that cant be good. I eat alot of red meat, so im sure ill get a heart attack at some point that may just kill me.  Am i missing anything?
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Sure, there is risk everywhere.  You can't eliminate it all, but you can manage it by making certain lifestyle choices.  But justifying living next to a gigantic landfill by saying that you breathe smog and use electricity and microwaves anyway, while not nuts, doesn't sound very informed either.  Most people in SoCal do everything that you mentioned...however, not all choose to live next to a gigantic landfill.

What's wrong with being aware of the risks around you and doing what you can to manage them?  If you're aware of them and don't care, then that's your choice...but just because you don't care enough to make different choices doesn't mean that others aren't entitled to have that information and choice.  What effect to a specific resident will living next to a gigantic landfill have?  No one knows for sure.  Doesn't mean that the information is useless to everyone.

I think everyone should be as informed as they can be and make their life decisions accordingly.
 
qwerty said:
im sure this guy thought he was managing his risk and would live longer
http://www.rlnn.com/ArtOct06/MarathonRunnerHeartAttackDies.html

how did that work out for him?

we are all going to die of something, when its your time it is your time.

call me uninformed one more time and i will pull and Edhne and bust out my credentials to give credibility to my position  :)
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well, running marathons puts significant stress on your body, even if it is a healthy body.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27460551/ns/health-fitness/

again, if someone knew everything there was to know about running marathons and chose to run in them anyway, then that's great for them.  risks everywhere...and there are great benefits to running.

By that logic of "when it's your time, it's your time", I might as well start a career of skydiving because I won't die unless I was meant to die anyway...  Though I do know someone that was put in a wheelchair due to a skydiving accident. 

Sure, someone who doesn't run in marathons or skydive or live next to a landfill could STILL be hit by a car tomorrow...but that's not the point.

I still don't think it's a bad idea to make yourself informed and manage risk as you see fit.

 
the three most important things about buying a home is location, location, location... if we don't use distance to desirable and undesirable elements whether it be distance to work, distance to family, distance to the beach, distance to places we frequent, or in this case, distance to real or presumed  environmental hazards what should we base our decision on?
 
villagepeople said:
the three most important things about buying a home is location, location, location... if we don't use distance to desirable and undesirable elements whether it be distance to work, distance to family, distance to the beach, distance to places we frequent, or in this case, distance to real or presumed  environmental hazards what should we base our decision on?
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Im going to base my decision on where to buy by using location, location, location, as well.  A location right in the middle of the following: Tommy's, King Taco and Taco Bell. The lack of King Taco locations in orange county is making my decision more difficult. I may have to replace it with Five Guys.
 
For added context, since its not in the tagline.  I live in Tokyo NOW, earthquakes and liquefaction are a topic that I'm used to in the context of Tokyo.  When I bought my home here, I avoided areas that were marked as being prone to liquefaction or coming from reclaimed land.  Builders built on this re-claimed soil knowing the risks and people bought there homes on this soil also knowing the risks.  Well, you know what, it turns out that people didn't truly understand the risks neither the builders nor the buyers whom I presume (at least in my case I spoke with at least 10 different builders / projects) received assurances from the builder that it would be ok, or at least in the realm of low possibility.

I'm not talking about air quality, I'm talking about the foundation of your house disappearing or falling x meters because the land is no longer there or is now unstable.

Homes and the structural integrity or build quality or build standards in California, like Tokyo are going to be fine up to an earthquake of about richter scale 7 - what about the land underneath it. The areas in Chiba which is still about 200km from the main earthquake that have suffered from liquefaction only received apprx a force of about a 5.  I'm sure it was the combination of the main earthquake and many aftershocks that followed that caused the land to be unsettled.

Now, I've been researching my move to Irvine for about 12 months, its an important move for my family and one that has gained even more significance since the events that have taken place over the last 6 weeks - before I make this rather significant move I want to really understand the risk of liquefaction in Irvine, hence my question to this group.

Perhaps the answer is that no one really knows but based on my experience, it is VERY possible that the house is structurally ok-ish but the land is not. 

 
gaab said:
So my question is - how much of a concern is this really ?  I would not want to spend close to a million dollars on a home to discover it and the land are unusable after "escaping" a relatively large earthquake.
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look at the map that davelei linked.  you will se that the unstable zones are all near creeks, likely sedimentary deposit soil.  but it is a small part of the area.

 
Old James Irvine took most of the water out of the area in the late 1800's, early 1900's. The water table is pretty low compared to earlier OC days. As noted before, although it's a reasonable question it's best to worry about the coming zombie Apocalypse than any possible Irvine area liquefaction impacts. 

My .02c
 
qwerty said:
villagepeople said:
the three most important things about buying a home is location, location, location... if we don't use distance to desirable and undesirable elements whether it be distance to work, distance to family, distance to the beach, distance to places we frequent, or in this case, distance to real or presumed  environmental hazards what should we base our decision on?
Click to expand...

Im going to base my decision on where to buy by using location, location, location, as well.  A location right in the middle of the following: Tommy's, King Taco and Taco Bell. The lack of King Taco locations in orange county is making my decision more difficult. I may have to replace it with Five Guys.
Click to expand...

Five Guys? Traitor. You know they are trying to take out In-N-Out. It's an attack on our lifestyle, people!
 
traceimage said:
qwerty said:
villagepeople said:
the three most important things about buying a home is location, location, location... if we don't use distance to desirable and undesirable elements whether it be distance to work, distance to family, distance to the beach, distance to places we frequent, or in this case, distance to real or presumed  environmental hazards what should we base our decision on?
Click to expand...

Im going to base my decision on where to buy by using location, location, location, as well.  A location right in the middle of the following: Tommy's, King Taco and Taco Bell. The lack of King Taco locations in orange county is making my decision more difficult. I may have to replace it with Five Guys.
Click to expand...

Five Guys? Traitor. You know they are trying to take out In-N-Out. It's an attack on our lifestyle, people!
Click to expand...
But Five Guys is tastey plus they let you put bacon your burger.  :-*
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Speaking of... Five Guys is replacing Johnny Rockets in The District... ooo... taking the fight TO In-N-Out!
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Greasy, overpriced, and over hyped. In N Out is still king.
 
IndieDev said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Speaking of... Five Guys is replacing Johnny Rockets in The District... ooo... taking the fight TO In-N-Out!
Click to expand...

Greasy, overpriced, and over hyped. In N Out is still king.
Click to expand...

im personally not a big fan of In-N-Out, would rather have a big mac than In-N-out and their natural fries suck too.
 
davenlei said:
Gaab,

Here is a link that will let you see the liquifaction and seismic zones for most of SoCal.  Just click on a square to get the details and close up map.
http://gmw.consrv.ca.gov/shmp/html/pdf_maps_so.html

So you are in Tokyo?  I was there in September last year.  I was staying in the city of Zama for a week visiting family and stayed at the New Osana Hotel when I was in Tokyo.
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This is great davenlei - thank you 

Yes, I'm in Tokyo, a few kms from Tokyo Tower and Roppongi Hills. 

Kanagawa got hit by a pretty strong earthquake I think the day after the big one hit the fukushima area.  Hope its all good.

Now back to your favorite, zombi hamburger kpop discussion


 
jumpcut said:
gaab said:
Now back to your favorite, zombi hamburger kpop discussion
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Just so you don't feel left out, gaab...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNg3mcjhq9w[/youtube]

Do itashimashte
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My daughter loves AKB48 - thanks !
 
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