Show Date: August 9, 2006 
Pam Eastlick for THE DEEP on line

WHERE WERE YOU?

Welcome to The Deep science and technology column where we cover topics from the deep sea to deep space and beyond. Join us each week on Newstalk K57 on Wednesday night from 7 to 8 p.m. for exciting live science expeditions or listen live on our web site www.thedeepradioshow.com

Major news events tend to freeze our memories. Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they first became aware of the horrible news of 9/11. I can remember exactly where I was when I was told that the planes had gone into the World Trade Center (the fact that I was on a plane at the time made my life very interesting for a while). Here on Guam, natural disasters also remain fixed in our memories. All you have to do is say the words Karen, Pamela, Omar or Pongsona to evoke many memories in local residents.

Typhoon Pongsona

But there are other natural disasters on Guam. All you have to do is say “the great earthquake” and everybody knows what you’re talking about. But did you remember that it happened 13 years ago TODAY?

The Great Earthquake of 1993 occurred on the 8th of August at 6:34:24 p.m. Its magnitude was initially reported at 8.1 but that’s been revised downward to 7.8. Even if it’s been ‘demoted’ it was still the world’s most powerful earthquake in 1993.

Many of us were sitting down to supper. I was at the house of friends and we all huddled in the doorway of their concrete house until it was over. One of my friends wanted to run outside, but the sight of the dancing power pole and wires stopped her. Later, when we went to pick up my stepson at his workplace in Tumon, we discovered that the Pago Bay Bridge was impassible and we had to go Cross Island road and up Route 2. I remember looking at all the untouched buildings along the way and trying to figure out why they weren’t heaps of rubble. A magnitude 8 earthquake liquefies concrete, you see, it shakes it into its component pebble-like parts.
That’s not to say the Great Earthquake wasn’t awesomely destructive. Forty-eight people were injured on Guam and there was extensive damage to hotels in Tumon Bay.

We all remember the ‘Rubble Palm’. Most of that damage was caused by liquefaction in the underlying soil, which also damaged facilities at the commercial port and naval base at Apra Harbor. The Pago Bay Bridge approaches pancaked and one side dropped more than a foot. There were many landslides and rockslides and the loss from damage to island buildings exceeded 150 million dollars. But there remains that nagging question, if concrete liquefies with that kind of shaking, why wasn’t there much more damage? Can it happen again? Join us this week on The Deep as we remember The Great Earthquake of 1993. Our guest will be Paul Hattori of the US Geological Survey. The Deep is broadcast on Newstalk K57 every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. You can also listen live from our web site www.thedeepradioshow.com. Join Jim Sullivan, Pam Eastlick, and Peter Melyan on the deepest radio show on Earth.

Location of the Great Earthquake