Posted on 08/06/2007 8:46:22 AM PDT by Pyro7480
A mine collapse in Emery County may have trapped six miners inside the Genwal Mine near Huntington Caynon. The Emery County Sheriff's Office says the six miners are unaccounted for and emergency workers are currently trying to free the miners.
County officials say they do not know what caused the cave in at the mine.
Ping
The current new reports indicate there was never an earthquake, but the mine collapse generated seismic waves similar to a small earthquake. The earlier reports of an earthquake appear to have been false.
“Has anyone in the media blamed this on the president yet?”
Give them time. They will. HuffPo is already blaming Bush and accusing him of murdering the miners.
A mine collapse that registered as a 4.0 magnitude earthquake would be an indication of a quite serious event, correct?
It's coming...just like the I-35W bridge. It was less than 24 hours before some lib was popping off with the Bush's fault crap.
Any word?
Off the top of my head (from early morning news reports) the longwall is over 600 foot long by 9 high.
If it bounced, it’s very possible the sensors detected it and there was no earthquake. The U of Utah seismo group is comparing the wave charts to other known mine bounces. It may be possible there was a quake, or it may be that the miners weren’t missed until an hour after the bounce... hence the hour difference between the seismic reads and the call for rescue. Dunno. I think the seam they’re working is sandwiched between sandstone layers, not good pressure wise.
Prayers for these men to be rescued, and for their families.
Here was the New York Slime`s take on the Sago tradgedy. Both liknks are intersting;
“Political figures from both parties have long defended and profited from ties to the coal industry. Whether or not that was a factor in the Sago mine’s history, the Bush administration’s cramming of important posts in the Department of the Interior with biased operatives from the coal, oil and gas industry is not reassuring about general safety in the mines. Steven Griles, a mining lobbyist before being appointed deputy secretary of the interior, devoted four years to rolling back mine regulations and then went back to lobbying for the industry.”
http://www.bizzyblog.com/?p=1190
http://www.bizzyblog.com/?p=1193
It would be about as fair of us the Clain that the New York Times planted a bomb in the mine, as it would be for them to blame this on Bush.
J—— H. C——t, is there no common human decency at the Times?
What a low life cult they running over there...
Sorry about that.
It would be about as fair of us to Claim that the New York Times planted a bomb in the mine, as it would be for them to blame this on Bush.
J—— H. C——t, is there no common human decency at the Times?
What a low life cult they running over there...
UU is saying it was the mine not a earthquake........one heck of a mine collapse if that’s true ?
6 Miners Trapped in Collapsed Utah Mine
August 6th, 2007 @ 5:00pmSam Penrod Reporting
Six miners in a Utah coal mine remain unaccounted for this afternoon. The six were trapped after what's believed to have been an earthquake caused the mine to collapse.
The mine is located west of Huntington in Emery County.
No one has had any communication with them, but the rescue teams believe they do know where they are in the mine. They're now trying to get to them in four separate ways. It's a race now against the clock to see which method gets to them first.
Gov. Jon Huntsman said, "Our thoughts are with the families, our thoughts and prayers are with the families. They're now in Huntington at an undisclosed location. Our thoughts and prayers are with them." Huntsman has been here this afternoon being briefed on the situation, and is meeting with the families of the six miners.
Ten miners were inside the mine when the earthquake occurred and the mine collapsed. It happened between 2:00 and 3:00 this morning. The four miners made it out, the other six are unaccounted for. They are believed to be three and a half miles away from the mine's entrance, and at a depth of 1500 feet.
SNIP
Did Earthquake Cause Mine Collapse?
August 6th, 2007 @ 4:59pm
Ed Yeates Reporting
Was it really an earthquake that triggered today’s mine collapse?
Seismologists say it will take several days to analyze the data, but it’s more likely, they say, that the mine collapse was the earthquake.
That earthquake registered on the U’s seismographs at about 2:48 in the morning. Even though the mine accident came into dispatch an hour later, the actual collapse itself could have coincided with the quake.
The owner of the Crandall Canyon mine is convinced it was the 3.9 magnitude earthquake that triggered the collapse inside the mine. But University of Utah seismologist James Pechmann says historically it’s always been the other way around, that activity inside the mine produces seismic waves near the site of the mine.
“I’m not aware of a tectonic earthquake triggering a mine collapse in Utah,” Pechmann said.
Pechmann says seismologists will analyze data and clarify information over the next several days. Seismic waves sometimes reveal a fingerprint that can pinpoint whether the earthquake came from a fault or from something else.
“You can look at the mechanism that caused the earthquake due to sliding of two sides of a fault past each other, or collapse of a cavity within the earth,” Pechmann said.
Pechmann says a 5.2 quake near the Solvay Mine in Southwestern Wyoming in 1995 was the result of a large collapse inside that mine. And there was another here in the late ‘80s.
“There was one in the coal mining areas of Utah in 1981 that corresponded to an earthquake around 3.5, upper magnitude three range,” Pechmann said.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1596171
From the maps in the background of some interviews, and if they represent the current workings, I guess they were engaged in pulling pillars. The claim that an attempt was made to reenter old workings to access the mine inby the fall adds support.
Finally, there is a possibility that this was a failure at an outby fault zone. These failures can be tripped by overriding pressure, seismic activity, or something as simple as a temperature or ventilation change.
In any case, pray for these men and their families.
and Greta the Ghoul as my mother calls her...
you know someone will, just a matter of time.
Well,I guess if we’re gonna pray,this would be a good time.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070807/ap_on_re_us/utah_mine_collapse
The mine uses a method called “retreat mining,” in which pillars of coal are used to hold up an area of the mine’s roof. When that area is completely mined, the company pulls the pillar and grabs the useful coal, causing an intentional collapse. Experts say it is one of the most dangerous mining methods.
Relatives of the miners waited for news at a nearby senior center. Many of the family members don’t speak English, so Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon hugged them, put her hands over her heart and then clasped them together to let them know she was praying for them, she said.
Outside the senior center, Ariana Sanchez, 16, said her father Manuel Sanchez, 42, was among the trapped miners. She said she cried when her mother told her the news, and declined further comment. No details were immediately available about the other miners.
From KSL:The Crandall Canyon mine performs "retreat mining," in which pillars of coal used to support the mine are eventually yanked to grab more coal.
"It's dangerous work and been that way for 30 years," said Leonard Reid, a safety inspector who works for the mine.
The president of UtahAmerican Energy, a company affiliated with the mine, likened it to a checkerboard -- clearing the red boxes after mining the black.
"It's something that the government approves and signs off on. ... It happens throughout the life of a mine," Bruce Hill said.
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