Toppling of a Trona Pinnacles Spire following the Mw 5.5 Ridgecrest Aftershock of June 2020

Abstract

AbstractThe 2019 Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest California earthquake rupture passed within 4 km of the Trona Pinnacles, a large group of tufa rock pillars. Reconnaissance following the Ridgecrest mainshock documented fresh damage to several of the Pinnacles. Repeated aerial photogrammetric surveys also documented damage during subsequent aftershocks. Here, we describe the photogrammetric data with emphasis on a specific rock spire that toppled during an Mw 5.5 aftershock. We calculate the volumes of the intact spire and of its subsequent debris. To explore the utility of the pinnacles as fragile geologic features for constraining past earthquake shaking intensity, we calculate the quasi static, horizontal acceleration required to break the spire at its base. We also examine the response of this feature to observed shaking using a dynamic model of the spire. In this case, we find that the quasi-static estimate provides a conservative maximum constraint on fragility. The dynamic model of the spire suggests that shaking during the Mw 7.1 mainshock likely generated tensile stresses in excess of the spire’s bulk strength, thereby making it vulnerable to collapse in subsequent aftershocks.