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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCollapsed Miami condo had been sinking into Earth as early as the 1990s, researchers say
The building, which was constructed in 1981 on reclaimed wetlands, has been sinking at an alarming rate since the 1990s, according to a 2020 study conducted by Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University.
When he heard the news that a condo had collapsed, he immediately knew which building it was, Wdowinski said.
I looked at it this morning and said Oh my god. We did detect that, he said.
-snip-
The building was sinking at a rate of about 2 millimeters a year in the 1990s, and the sinking could have slowed or accelerated in the time since. - USA Today
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)and not worrying about things like this
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)ToxMarz
(2,168 posts)PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)ToxMarz
(2,168 posts)You heard it here first.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Wicked Blue
(5,832 posts)It makes me furious to read about building construction in highly vulnerable areas.
Runningdawg
(4,516 posts)herding cats
(19,564 posts)Eugene
(61,899 posts)I looked at this morning and said Oh my God. We did detect that, Shimon Wdowinski, professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University, told the newspaper.
FIU professor: Collapsed Surfside building showed signs of subsidence in 90s (Florida International University)
Collapsed Florida condo building had been shifting since 1990s, geologist says (WFLA-TV)
ace3csusm
(969 posts)I figured a sink hole but sinking at that rate on makes sense...Although i really dislike DeSanti cant blame him who ever owns build is about to get sent to cleaners looks like they knew according to article...
Demovictory9
(32,456 posts)soldierant
(6,880 posts)are know to be prone to sinkholes. It has been fifteen years since I worked with homeowners insurance in Florida, but IIRC Hillsborough was one, and Miami-Dade was not. But, as many are pointing out, these things change, and rapacious development promores this kind of change.
NCjack
(10,279 posts)hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)This is going to be very costly for the people who didnt act once they knew it was a danger.
So very, very sad. Always dollar bills above human beings.
Hekate
(90,692 posts)I am truly sorry for the people who live there, but for 20+ years Ive looked at Florida as a very temporary state, so to speak, due to their rapacious development practices. Add climate change and the rising sea there are already beach towns in South Florida that are ankle deep in salt water at high tide.
ffr
(22,670 posts)That would mean that, like New Orleans and California's Central Valley, as the water is drained or unable to replenish the water table, the land compacts and sinks.
Yet another reason to restore the wetlands.
Can you imagine what condo owners all around that area, but especially within view of this building are thinking right now?
ace3csusm
(969 posts)But who would buy...
Hekate
(90,692 posts)
.fruit salad bowl. Theres dams and reservoirs, but last time we had a long drought the aquifers got a beating, and farm workers/poor people generally had to buy bottled water. That was when land subsidence (ie sinkholes) started to become an issue. Now, of course, the drought is permanent.
hunter
(38,313 posts)The Yokuts also hunted deer, elk, and antelope, which were numerous along the lake's shoreline. During wet years, the lake was the terminus of the Western Hemisphere's southernmost Chinook salmon run via the San Joaquin River.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulare_Lake
It was drained and "reclaimed" and is turning into a salty desert.
This has happened to other civilizations throughout human history.
Hekate
(90,692 posts)Traildogbob
(8,741 posts)Are doing some reclaiming now.
MontanaMama
(23,317 posts)I was shocked to read that this building might have been built on "reclaimed wetlands". Destroying wetlands ensures that the wetlands will eventually reclaim whatever short sighted humans build. Count on it.
Traildogbob
(8,741 posts)smb
(3,471 posts)...are the clenching sphincters of local residents, property owners, and insurance underwriters.
ace3csusm
(969 posts)or worst major companies wont insurance their...So government will have to provide an insurance exchange policy's but since Florida is against government handouts no one will get them right...
who would want to buy anything not just there, but on any coastline in Florida now
so much for "paradise"
Demovictory9
(32,456 posts)marble falls
(57,097 posts)BlueStater
(7,596 posts)What the fuck?
hatrack
(59,587 posts).
Wingus Dingus
(8,054 posts)signs of structural stress or problems, despite a faster rate of sinking than other places. They were doing their 40-year certification inspection process when it failed. Maybe they would have caught something, or maybe not.
malaise
(269,004 posts)So why did he not report it?
Grokenstein
(5,723 posts)It's sunk eighteen inches and tilted fourteen inches since 2008.
https://www.sfgate.com/news/editorspicks/article/SF-s-sinking-Millenium-Tower-to-finally-get-fixed-15439863.php
Residents reported hearing various "creaking sounds," and then a "popping sound" at around 2:30 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 8, 2018. The following day, a resident living in a corner unit on the 36th floor found a cracked window across glass that was rated to withstand hurricane-force winds. Concerns that the creaking, popping and cracking were another symptom of the structural failure grew. A report conducted on behalf of the towers managers, blamed the crack on an exterior impact, but gave no indication as to what might have struck the window.
Oh, it gets worse. A hundred-million-dollar project might shore up the tower, but the entire region is sinking.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/environment/article/San-Francisco-Bay-Area-sinking-under-its-own-15961703.php
The entire Bay Area is plunging downward under the weight of its own sprawl. And thats a concern as sea levels rise and cities try to figure out how theyll stay above water in the coming decades.
Tom Parsons, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, documented the problem recently. He calculated the weight of every building in the Bay Area and found the total to be so great, about 3.5 trillion pounds or the equivalent of more than 7 million Boeing 747s, that its pushing the Earths surface down. His research shows the region has sunk as much as 3.1 inches, on average, as a result of a centurys worth of development.
Wingus Dingus
(8,054 posts)I guess there's a lot more to it than just the fact that it was sinking, of course.
Scruffy1
(3,256 posts)Politicub
(12,165 posts)I would move to the city in a heartbeat if I could afford it, but I wouldnt want to live in a building that more than a couple of stories.
Mr.Bill
(24,294 posts)The earthquake building standards in modern times make some of those buildings the safest place to be in an earthquake.
superpatriotman
(6,249 posts)Id rather be in a single family home.
Mr.Bill
(24,294 posts)that will cost several million dollars.
Statistically, I think fire is a bigger risk in that city. Lots of old wooden buildings turned into apartments.
Politicub
(12,165 posts)edge, though. If I try to think myself out of a panic attack, anxiety will pop up and say, Hold my beer.
Mr.Bill
(24,294 posts)I've never lived in San Francisco, but I've lived near it for 60 years. I was ten miles from the epicenter of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which was 60 miles or so from SF. I've visited the city dozens of times, sometimes for several days, and earthquakes are on my mind the whole time I am there. I wouldn't live there either.
But the fact is, when there is an earthquake the news shows the same damaged buildings over and over, ignoring the 99% of buildings with no damage.
Politicub
(12,165 posts)Then relocated to LA for a period of time.
Would love to move back, but it would be so difficult to start again with the home values being what they are.
Earthquakes were never something that I worried about, but the segment on 60 Minutes about the Millennium building sinking got stuck in my head. The accounts of people hearing creaking at night... nope.
Wounded Bear
(58,660 posts)Beacool
(30,249 posts)Poor people, may they rest in peace.
hunter
(38,313 posts)When the foundations of their buildings fail the buildings themselves don't crumble.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5956672
I_UndergroundPanther
(12,470 posts)Demovictory9
(32,456 posts)that the building was sinking?
Sgent
(5,857 posts)I guess you could go after the condo association, but that means your essentially suing yourself. I can't imagine builders are still liable all these decades later. If the condo board members have good umbrella policies you might get a few million, but essentially everyone lost their lives, their homes, or both probably with no insurance.
How sad.