Seismic Survey Shaking Up Long Beach

Details: By Allison Jean Eaton; | Saturday, 05 March 2011 17:18

A Long Beach police officer leads a train of four vibroseis trucks as they inch forward before sending another round of acoustical energy into the ground on Anaheim Street just west of Obispo Avenue last Friday as part of the Long Beach-Signal Hill Geographical Survey.

10:46am | Oversized trucks traveling in a group of four continued to shake the streets of Long Beach last week as part of the Long Beach-Signal Hill Geophysical Survey.

Last Tuesday, the vibroseis survey trucks, escorted by two black-and-whites from the Long Beach Police Department, slowly made their way up the middle of Redondo Avenue, stopping every few yards and lowering their seismic vibrators to the pavement below to input acoustical energy into the ground. The trucks were spotted by the Long Beach Post again last Friday, traveling west on Anaheim Street.

Drivers might not have felt the resultant vibrations, but anyone walking along the sidewalks adjacent to the trucks would have been hard pressed to not notice the ground shaking.

The survey, which launched on Jan. 18, is slated to continue through the first half of 2011, according to an informational brochure provided by a survey technician as he monitored the sidewalk alongside the quartet of earth-shaking vehicles.

While the survey is being sponsored by Signal Hill Petroleum Inc. to identify any additional oil resources that might exist, it will also provide a current map of the geophysical strata beneath the two cities, as well as identify any significant subsurface conditions such as potential faults, according to the survey brochure.

This is all accomplished through seismic imaging. The acoustic waves the trucks send into the ground penetrate deep into the earth. As they pass by the various geographical strata, acoustic reflections are created. These reflections are recorded by small, specialized recording devices called nodes that have been previously inserted into the ground in strategic locations. The data recorded by the nodes is then downloaded and processed by state-of-the-art computer programs that generate three-dimensional images of the earth's subsurface and deeper geology.

The seismic imaging process does not damage the street or negatively impact the earth below ground.

The survey team, which is headed up by NodalSeismic LLC, is working in conjunction with several universities and government agencies with which it will share the data for academic and scientific research, according to the survey brochure.

A website, LBGeophysical.com, has been created specifically for the survey and provides detailed information about the effort, including a community calendar identifying where the trucks will be operating on a particular date. The survey is conducted on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

This week, the trucks will continue heading west on Anaheim from Temple Avenue to Martin Luther King Boulevard on Monday. They will head south on Cherry Avenue from 19th Street to Anaheim on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, they will head west on Seventh Street from Walnut Avenue to Atlantic Avenue and from Federation Drive to Obispo Avenue. Thursday will find them heading west on Seventh from Obispo to Walnut as well as west on Anaheim from Martin Luther King to Atlantic. Finally, they will head south on Orange Avenue from Hill Street to 17th Street and south on Alamitos Avenue from 17th to Seventh on Friday.

While most of the survey is being conducted on public streets, select off-street commercial locations and vacant lots may also be surveyed if permission is granted by the land owner.

Anyone with questions or concerns is asked to contact the project manager by calling 562-326-5186. Additionally, any related emergencies should be reported to Signal Hill Petroleum by calling 562-595-6440.

A survey technician records a seismic reading onto a clipboard as four vibroseis trucks input acoustical energy into the ground on Anaheim Street just west of Obispo Avenue last Friday as part of the Long Beach-Signal Hill Geographical Survey.

A Long Beach police officer trails behind four vibroseis trucks as they inch forward before sending another round of acoustical energy into the earth on Anaheim Street just west of Obispo Avenue last Friday as part of the Long Beach-Signal Hill Geographical Survey.

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Archived Comments (8)

Jennifer

These trucks and their vibrations do have the potential to damage buildings. Past surveys of this type caused cracks in plaster walls and other problems in Wrigley.

Tensi

I also live in Wrigley. We have cracks in our walls, our patio, and our kitchen floor tiles because of these surveys. My husband and I will be shortly assessing the damage. The only way to make them reconsider is to have Signal Hill Petroleum pay for the damage. I urge all impacted residents to do likewise.

Gregory

Imagine if it were a real earthquake. What would the damage look like then? Take this as a learning experience and prepare for the inevitable. A little minor damage now should serve as a reminder that we live in an area that is prone to earthquakes that can cause much more damage. Learn from these studies and ensure that your homes are structurally sound enough to withstand a real one. I think that's part of the point behind this whole thing.

All Shook Up

These trucks do damage! Signal Hill Petroleum has a history of not paying for damage witnessed to be caused by these trucks. Medical patients and property owners beware!

AaRonYa

In the summer of 2006, the trucks were on my street, moving westward on 33rd Way from Maine to San Francisco Ave. I heard and felt the vibrations as they moved directly in front of my home. It was very scary for me and I sustained lots of cracks in the walls, ceiling and foundation as result. The last vibration testing was directly in front of my home. At that time I did not know who to contact nor what to do. So for several winters we did not turn on the forced air heating as it vibrates a bit. So I left it off and many times we almost froze, or I would heat the house with the oven, fireplace and or room heaters. Since then we have had a few earthquakes which of course causes additional shaking and cracks. We as citizens do not know what effect this will have long term on our properties and or structures. In February 2010 my son noticed on FaceBook that Wrigley was having a meeting and the Seismic people (Signal Hill Petroleum) were going to conduct a demonstration, so I attended the meeting. I informed them of the damages to my home and they said to call them. I did not believe they would do anything so I didn't call. In November 2010 I attended another Wrigley Association Group meeting at Vets park, where the same company mentioned above was in attendance and would be providing a presentation and decided to follow thru on their request to call them. I did call them and after at least over a week I contacted the office of Dave Slater, I left him a message and he later returned the phone call. We arranged for him and his specialist to come and inspect my home. Dave, Jim Diane and Amanda all were in arrived. During the inspection there was talk about shared costs and the like. This was in early January 2011. I am waiting for the report to date March 08, 2011. To digress a moment last week the public relations representative, Diane Ripley came unannounced and was very apologetic for just showing up unannounced as she didn't have my phone number, but needed to inform me of the delay in the report being sent to me. So I was asked if I would be willing to wait approximately 5 days as the initial inspector specialist was experiencing some personal family matters or if I wanted someone else to take it over, which meant to start all over again. So I opted to wait the 5 days. Now, if the vibrations sounded like and felt like what I experienced at in my home in 2006 I would never want them on my street ever again with things falling down, shaking, cracks and the like! However, if the vibrations are of that which we experienced out on the Greens in Signal Hill in Feb 2010, it didn't seem that bad. I am not a specialist nor an expert in this matter, I just know that in 2006 it felt like a 6.5 earthquake in front of and in my home and I was extremely frightened.

AaRonYa

I submitted a detailed and lengthy comment yesterday evening why was it not posted?

Joan Greenwood

In 2006, the data collected in Wrigley indicated that my home got more shaking than any other, and yet, the repairs were under $250. Let's look at the facts and not give in to heresay and exagerated damage claims.

During first survey in 2006, Wrigley homes in the areas west of Magnolia to the LA River between Willow and PCH experienced cracks becasue they were built on former marshland under outdated building codes.

The vibroseis trucks currently in use are not the same as the ones used in 2006 when damage occurred to my house. My experience with settling the damage claim I submitted was very positive. A licensed structual engineer inspected my property at my convenience, explained his findings and provided a complete written report with supporting documentation. Signal Hill Petroleum promptly issued an apology for not having forseen the problems and a check for repairs. I was also given the option of bringing in my own structural engineer at Signal Hill Petroleum's expense.

Mikeymed

Dang that sucks about the damages...I was standing right next to these trucks over here on East Anaheim St the shaking was not that bad well maybe because i was real close to them but i do recall they were really loud. I hope the Two police vehicles were paid a by the, Signal Hill Geographical people and not tax payers.

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