Water in the Ballard Pool apparently sloshed around about 15 minutes after last weekend’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Baja, according to MyNorthwest.com. “The pool operators, staff, and others witnessed the pool lower on one side, about six inches, and rise up about six inches on the other side and actually slosh over the edge of the pool,” Joelle Hammerstad, with Seattle Parks Department, told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Monday. Hammerstad told Monson that the Ballard Pool is the only pool with an east-west orientation, which may be more sensitive to earthquakes. John Vidale, Director of the Northwest Seismic Network told Monson that seismic waves move a few miles per second and although you wouldn’t feel the ground move, it would be going back and forth every 10 to 20 seconds. “Moving water in pools is the most noticeable at that distance from an earthquake,” Vidale said.
Ballard Pool sloshes after Mexico earthquake
Tsunami!
Wow!
what do they mean “the only pool with east-west orientation”? THE ONLY POOL? In the entire world? Or what? The West Coast?
I'm pretty sure Evans Pool at Greenlake is also east-west in orientation, or close enough to that to count.
i'm a tad confused here. this is a very cool story. but, does water move according to the orientation of the pool? what do we mean, the length versus width? would that seriously determine whether or not the water would splash? i really don't know. i'm genuinely curious.
Ballard Pool is the only public pool in Seattle with the East West orientation and was the only one that experienced this local tsunami… it happened in the past on a few occasions as well. Maybe the pool should offer surfing lessons too!
ok. Another question, what does 'East-West Orientation” mean?
I dont swim, so I dont understand. And is it permanently shifted?
East – West orientation means that the pool, which is 25 yrds by 15 yrds
sits in a way that if you were swimming the lenght of the pool – you would be swimming East/West. If you are in any of the other City Pools they lay in a N/S orientation or you would be swimming North to South.
Since the Quakes happen to the South in CA the engery waves move N and affect the pool as the wave pushes the water and sloshes it to the North. Since it lays in this direction the full lenth is moved at once not a shorter 15 yards but a full 25. Hope this helps…
I was actually in the pool teaching swim lessons when it happened. It was actually quite scary, cause there were about 40 little kids in the pool. and we werent sure if we should attempt to get them out, or just have them hold on to the wall and wait it out.