# Impending landslide near Yakima **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2018, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946 "2018-01-19T05:03:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/1 "2018-01-19T05:03:20Z")
A few miles south of Yakima is Union Gap, on the east side of which is Rattlesnake Ridge. Large cracks have formed there, and seem to be widening at the rate of several inches a day. This looks likely to end with a large landslide that may fill the gap, blocking I-82 and perhaps damming the Yakima River. [Article](http://temblor.net/landslide-insights/landslide-looms-in-washington-6099/) [Drone video of the crack](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NB4IUB4evE&t=63s) ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/2 "2018-01-19T06:02:13Z")
I’ve been keeping an eye on that thing–it’s gonna SUCK when it cuts loose. The local news channel keeps trying to insist it’s going to slump into the quarry but nope. That is not what’s going to happen there. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/3 "2018-01-19T06:11:19Z")
Aye; I don’t think that’s going to slough off into that quarry. And it’s not gonna be funny at all when it happens. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/4 "2018-01-19T06:47:27Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > I’ve been keeping an eye on that thing–it’s gonna SUCK when it cuts loose. Gonna suck worse than Gary Puckett. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/5 "2018-01-19T07:01:27Z")
It looks like that whole side of the mountain is about to calve off. I would not want to drive down that highway right now, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/6 "2018-01-19T07:34:45Z")
That is one big ass ass crack for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/7 "2018-01-19T14:23:20Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > I’ve been keeping an eye on that thing–it’s gonna SUCK when it cuts loose. The local news channel keeps trying to insist it’s going to slump into the quarry but nope. That is not what’s going to happen there. Hundreds of thousands of tons falling hundreds of metres doesn’t simply stop. Once it starts moving and fragmenting it’ll act like a fluid and probably continue flowing for quite some distance. It won’t be pretty. I see from the article that they’ve put barriers up on the side of the highway…:dubious: not quite sure I concur with their health and safety precautions there. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/8 "2018-01-19T14:52:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Aye; I don’t think that’s going to slough off into that quarry. And it’s not gonna be funny at all when it happens. LOL! It’s gonna be a drag, alright. But on the positive side, 50+ years of Hanford nuclear waste seepage might just turn the place into a giant night light when the fresh basalt is exposed. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/9 "2018-01-19T16:37:03Z")
So we got some sort of idea when this ting is going to slip? A week? A month? A year? Will it go all at once? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/10 "2018-01-19T17:00:16Z")
In that second link that the OP provided, the one with the drone footage, you can see people climbing around all over the crack. At first I thought they were geologists doing inspections, but on second look there’s a kid with a mountain bike in there. Yeesh - imagine clambering around in and on a giant crack which is due to give way in a huge landslide at any moment, and letting your kids do so too. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/11 "2018-01-19T17:25:18Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > So we got some sort of idea when this ting is going to slip? A week? A month? A year? Will it go all at once? From the link in the OP: > [@](#): > > At its current rate, 1.6 ft/week, up from 1.0 ft/week, scientists estimate that the slide could occur between the end of the month and early March. So between 1 February and 15 March is likely. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/12 "2018-01-19T18:01:47Z")
I can’t tell – is this facing toward or way from the Hanford nuclear reservation? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/13 "2018-01-19T19:04:35Z")
It’s just east of Union Gap (immediately south of Yakima). Crack is noted to be on the western slope of Rattlesnake Ridge–so the slab slides to the west. Googlemap Yakima, and to the south you will see the river bisects a stretch of red ground. The crack is on the east ridge (I’m pretty sure). [This image](http://www.yakimaherald.com/slide/growing-cracks-in-rattlesnake-ridge-raise-alarm/article_f4bb2b68-e740-11e7-ad73-5b7168e0bf12.html) shows the imperiled quarry on the southwest edge of the eastern ridge. In all of this, Hanford is to the east. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/14 "2018-01-19T20:12:31Z")
> [@B-Rad](#): > > [This image](http://www.yakimaherald.com/slide/growing-cracks-in-rattlesnake-ridge-raise-alarm/article_f4bb2b68-e740-11e7-ad73-5b7168e0bf12.html) shows the imperiled quarry on the southwest edge of the eastern ridge. Does the quote below the second image in that article mean that they think the quarry it the cause of what’s about to happen? They will sometimes intentionally set off small, controlled avalanches in back country areas to prevent larger, uncontrolled ones. Is it possible to do that will land also or just snow? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/15 "2018-01-19T20:38:45Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > From the link in the OP:So between 1 February and 15 March is likely. Somewhat faster than the pitch drop. This is kind of scary, nobody has a good way to predict what will happen. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/16 "2018-01-19T22:00:59Z")
Even back a couple weeks people were saying some of the cracks were big enough to lose a car in them–from the looks of it, they’ve gotten way worse than that and the slump is severe. Wonder what the over/under is on how many weeks it takes to clear the freeway, assuming it’s even still there afterward? Of course, that will be even more complex if the slide dams the river. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/17 "2018-01-19T22:05:51Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > They will sometimes intentionally set off small, controlled avalanches in back country areas to prevent larger, uncontrolled ones. Is it possible to do that will land also or just snow? Good article on why that’s not advisable: > **[Explosives to blast the Rattlesnake Ridge slide? Here’s why that’s not a good...](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/explosives-to-blast-the-rattlesnake-ridge-slide-heres-why-thats-not-a-good-idea/)** > > "From the outside, it makes some sense," state officials said in a blog. "Drop some charges, trigger the slide and then clean it up. But, it’s not quite that simple." ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/18 "2018-01-19T22:21:16Z")
[The time-lapse of these 3 photos shows quite a bit of movement from 5 December 2017 to 12 January 2018](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/dramatic-new-images-show-rattlesnake-ridge-slide-moving-over-time/), a span of just 5 weeks. I don’t think I’d want to be driving on that highway below this ridge just now. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/19 "2018-01-19T22:27:06Z")
I’m curious about those here saying it’s definitely going to cover I-82. What are you seeing that the geotech engineers studying this aren’t? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946/20 "2018-01-19T23:34:49Z")
There is a long-standing SDMB objection to just throwing stuff into quarries. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impending-landslide-near-yakima/806946.md?page=2)