How Sand Ate a Pirate City During an Earthquake

Fables tell us that it ’s really stupid to build a house on Baroness Dudevant . In world , you could establish your house on guts — as long as you live in a tectonically unchanging part of the world . If you do n’t , an temblor will change state the sand into quicksand , and as a consequence , it will turn your sign into history .

The MinuteEarth television above utilize the case of the Jamaican buccaneer haven city of Port Royal to explain liquefaction . In 1692 , the city sink into the sea during an earthquake . Why ? Because it was built on George Sand . ordinarily , sand behaves like a substantial — even if it sinks a little bit when you stand on it , the sand particle quickly become compressed enough that they support your exercising weight . The same apply to building body structure . But when there ’s an quake , the mote vibrate so much that this structure all but disappears , turning sand into goopy quicksand — which is when you say adieu to anything that was sitting on top of it . Makes you think twice about that beach front belongings .

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