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Written by Bryana Quintana About 70% of earth’s surface is ocean, yet only 5% of the world’s oceans have been explored. One matter overlooked by the general public and scientific circles alike is how shifting faults and landslides thousands of feet under the water can lead to earthquakes and tsunamis on land. This is what […]
Written by Bryana Quintana
About 70% of earth’s surface is ocean, yet only 5% of the world’s oceans have been explored. One matter overlooked by the general public and scientific circles alike is how shifting faults and landslides thousands of feet under the water can lead to earthquakes and tsunamis on land.
This is what San Diego State University associate professor Jillian Maloney and her team of researchers spent 12 days at sea investigating.
“These are hazards to people living in Southern California and making sure we’re prepared for these kinds of disasters saves lives and protects infrastructure,” Maloney said.
In Southern California, earthquakes are the primary cause of most large underwater landslides. Tsunamis can be triggered by earthquakes or sizable landslides which move huge volumes of sediment from higher to lower elevations, displacing large amounts of water.
Local faults like the San Andreas are well-studied and can be more easily monitored because they are on land. But faults far off the coast and well below the water are much more difficult to study and even detect.
That’s where the Research Vessel (R/V) Sally Ride came in. The vessel, managed by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is equipped with specialized scientific instruments and used exclusively for research.
With funding from the UC Ship Funds Program and a mission to map the seafloor to better predict and protect coastal communities from natural disasters, Maloney’s crew set out for the waters around San Clemente Island. About 100 miles off the San Diego coast, they saw nothing but blue sky, ocean and the occasional small island for nearly two weeks.
The team used the boat’s sonar technology to map the region’s complex topography, generating images showing the faults, tectonic segments and landslides hidden beneath the water.
“We identified faults that appear to be recently active, and that is an indication that they do pose a hazard,” Maloney said. “We identified new faults that could have earthquakes that we didn’t know about before and we did identify repeated landslide deposits, an indication that tsunamis are another hazard we should be considering.”
Maloney’s team also conducted sediment coring — quickly dropping a 10-foot tube into the water to extract a section of sediment that reflects thousands of years of seafloor history. Examining the cores for changes in sediment reveals when landslides, earthquakes and other natural events occurred. This informs on future risks.
“Besides new fault segments and new submarine landslides, we found that there may be smaller landslides that we are not able to see on a sediment core,” said the project’s chief scientist, postdoctoral researcher Andrea Fabbrizzi. “That could be very important because having more ‘invisible’ landslides can change the seismic and tsunami hazard for coastal California.”
“Geological features that we don’t see are out there and must be investigated more to have a better picture of the hazard those features represent for global coastal regions,” he added.
Maloney emphasized that offshore faults and landslides must also be included in hazard assessments, just as cities account for seismic activity on land when developing building codes and emergency plans. Recognizing these threats is key for such large metropolitan areas — whose critical infrastructure includes communications cables running along the global seafloor which transfer more than 95% of the world’s data.
“Earthquakes and tsunamis, we know from experience, are hazardous to life and property. A landslide that breaks a communication cable could be a big deal for people living here, or anything that’s on the seafloor,” Maloney said. “So we hope this work can get us closer to understanding the possibility of those affecting us so that we can be better prepared.”
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Behind every beautiful space is a thoughtful process, and ASID San Diego is helping homeowners understand the value of professional design.
A perfectly designed home rarely happens by accident. Those kitchens that feel effortless and rooms that seem to tell a story the second you walk in? They’re usually the work of someone who knows exactly what they’re doing.
It’s knowing which ideas will actually work, which materials will hold up over time, and how to turn a collection of choices into a space that feels intentional. That’s where a professional interior designer comes in.
For the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) California San Diego Chapter, the goal is to help people see interior design as more than just the finished look. Behind every well-designed space is a process built on technical expertise. Designers are educated in everything from professional software and construction details to building codes, space planning, materials, and functionality.
“People don’t always realize how much goes on behind the scenes,” Kirsten Recce , current president of the ASID California San Diego Chapter, says. “Our designers are not just doing furniture placement and color selection and picking out new fluffy pillows. That’s not what they’re trained for.”
ASID members bring formal education, continued learning, and industry knowledge to their projects, helping create spaces that are not only beautiful, but designed to work. A paint color that changes completely depending on the lighting. A material that looks beautiful in a showroom but doesn’t make sense for everyday life. A layout that photographs well but doesn’t function for the people living there. These are the details where professional guidance can make all the difference.
Still, one of the biggest misconceptions about hiring an interior designer is that it’s reserved for massive renovations, luxury homes, or people who already know exactly what they want. The process can feel intimidating. Where do you begin? Is a designer worth the investment? What if you only need help with one room?
ASID’s answer: start with one hour.
ASID’s Spruce Up events break down one of the biggest barriers between homeowners and professional design: knowing where to begin. Held twice a year, the community program gives homeowners the chance to work directly with an ASID designer through a one-hour, $125 consultation in their own home. Whether you’re looking for advice on furniture placement, window treatments, kitchen and bath updates, remodeling ideas, vacation rentals, color selections or something else entirely, the upcoming September 2026 event offers an approachable way to get expert guidance before committing to a full project. Signups are open through Sept. 7, with consultations taking place Sept. 21 through Oct. 31. Proceeds benefit ASID San Diego’s educational and community programs. Register here!
“It’s a great opportunity for people who are in that exploratory phase,” Recce says. “Maybe they’re not sure they want to hire an interior designer yet, or they think it sounds daunting or expensive. This gives them a chance to discover what working with a designer is actually like.”
Design is personal. A good designer isn’t just creating a beautiful room; they’re helping create a space that fits the way someone lives.
“We’re a resource to all of San Diego County,” Recce says. “It doesn’t cost anything to pick up the phone and call and ask. We’ll answer.”
Follow ASID San Diego on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook for updates on upcoming events, or connect with the chapter directly at [email protected] or 619-548-8847.
How local orthopedic specialists are pioneering the future of foot and ankle care
Your feet and ankles probably aren’t something you give much thought to—until something goes wrong. Orthopedic surgeons at Scripps Clinic are on the leading edge of foot and ankle reconstruction, treating patients with sports injuries, deformities, traumatic injuries and other conditions. That includes repairing torn Achilles tendons with a minimally invasive procedure that shrinks the incision site to less than a centimeter, and performing advanced ankle replacement on some patients with ankle arthritis. Read more about Scripps’ innovations in foot and ankle care here.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
A new program guides new moms through high-risk pregnancy and into the “fourth trimester”
Mai Vue was just 34 weeks pregnant when she delivered her baby. Her pregnancy had been complicated, and she’d had a recent second trimester pregnancy loss, which led to her receiving specialized care from Sean Daneshmand, MD, a Scripps Clinic perinatologist who oversees high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Daneshmand and his team took care of Mai during her pregnancy, through the birth of her healthy baby girl and beyond. Mai was part of a program Scripps launched to provide support to new moms in the weeks and months after delivery. The postpartum program, known as Scripps Health’s Fourth Trimester Continuum of Care, provides care for women with high-risk pregnancies to optimize their health after childbirth and reduce the risk of complications in future pregnancies. Click here to learn more.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
Scripps Clinic’s Mohs surgery center is one of the most sophisticated in the country.
It’s estimated that one in five people in the U.S. will develop skin cancer at some point in their lives. When you factor in living in a sun-soaked city like San Diego and the outdoorsy lifestyle that comes with it, that figure can jump to as high as one in three, which makes early detection and intervention all the more important. Dermatologists at Bighorn Mohs and Dermatology Center are using innovative imaging methods and advanced surgical techniques to diagnose and treat skin cancer. For certain cancers in sensitive spots, like the face, dermatologists perform Mohs surgery, removing skin tissue layer by layer until reaching healthy, cancer-free tissue. They also use a process called immunohistochemistry to view tissue samples taken during Mohs surgery in far greater detail than previous methods. Read more about how Scripps is advancing skin cancer care here.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
Scripps Cancer Center helps an endurance athlete overcome his greatest challenge yet and get back in the race
When endurance athlete Isaac Sanchez learned he had cancer, he felt blindsided. He was healthy, surfed often and was training for an Ironman triathlon. But he had to put that on hold to undergo treatment. His physicians at Scripps Cancer Center developed a plan to treat the cancer in his tonsil and lymph nodes that included six-and-a-half weeks of near-daily radiation and weekly chemotherapy. He also worked with a Scripps Cancer Center dietitian to enhance his nutrition to promote strength and healing. Today, Isaac’s back to doing what he loves. Read more of his story here.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
Scripps study shows that some patients may be able to taper their dose and maintain results
While glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agents have been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, their recent emergence as weight-loss wonder drugs marked a new frontier in medicine. But their effectiveness has left some patients wondering what to do once they’ve reached their goal. Stopping the medication could mean regaining some, if not all, of the weight. A Scripps Clinic internal medicine physician recently conducted a small study of whether GLP-1 patients who had reached their goal weight could maintain that weight by taking their regularly prescribed injection every other week instead of weekly. Spoiler alert: 30 of 34 patients did. Read more about the study here and what that may mean as pharmaceutical companies roll out oral GLP-1s.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
