In the summer of 2017, an earth fissure collapsed a section of Houston Road in Apache Junction. The road was repaired and reopened in July 2018. Three weeks later on
Thursday, 9 Aug, 2 inches of rain fell on Apache Junction.
Once again, Houston Rd. collapsed directly over that same earth fissure. On Monday, 13 August, AZGS' Joe Cook and Brian Gootee traveled to Apache Junction to examine the collapse zone and capture drone video of the earth fissure. Picture shows Joe Cook examining the earth fissure about 15 feet north of Houston Rd; and the newly collapsed road section, precisely where last year's collapse occurred.
Earth fissures are an ongoing threat to infrastructure, property and people in some valleys in Cochise, La Paz, Maricopa, and Pinal Counties. For the locations and distribution of earth fissures in Arizona, and strategies on minimizing the impact of earth fissures, see the interactive Natural Hazards in Arizona viewer @
http://uagis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=98729f76e46...
