Rattlesnake Ridge

The seismometer is worth about $18,000 and went missing after a routine inspection of the site which has been closed to the public for weeks.

And the experts still say it's not expected to slide for months or years.

The fissure in Rattlesnake Ridge, and the potential landslide it may cause, is giving Yakima Valley residents good reason to refer to the county's biggest city as "Crack-ima". Here are other famous and cracks throughout human history.

In an online story published yesterday, Kirk Johnson - a Seattle-based writer - brought the issue of the Rattlesnake Ridge fissure issue and the people of Union Gap to light to readers of the New York Times.

Photojournalist Jack Balzer and I took a helicopter ride to the ridge on Thursday (Jan. 4) for an up-close look, and there is no doubt the earth there is on the move. The questions are where, when and how much?

Earlier this morning I made a snarky comment about the Washington State Department of Transportation's effort in placing shipping containers, filled with concrete traffic barriers, along I-82 to help stop a potential mud and/or rock slide on Rattlesnake Ridge. Moments later, I received this email from the good folks at the WSDOT Communications Department.