Science for Everyone
Science briefs about new earthquake research written for non-scientists.
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Explore our science!
Filter Total Items: 25
New Methods for Dating and Sequencing Ancient Earthquakes Along the Wasatch Fault Zone
Release Date: OCTOBER 12, 2018 Complex geologic sites, like those between the fault segments along the Wasatch fault zone in Utah, make the dating and ordering past earthquakes a difficult task. Two new methods were used to make this task easier and to get better results.
A New Map of Rodgers Creek Fault in Sonoma County, California
Release Date: JULY 16, 2018 A new more detailed and higher resolution map of the Rodgers Creek Fault in Sonoma County, California, has been produced using aerial photography and hillshade imagery derived from LiDAR data.
A Possible Cause of Earthquakes in the Continental Interior
Release Date: JUNE 18, 2018 A new map of crustal stress across the U.S. shows that the plate interior stress is variable, with contributions from plate boundary stress, crustal collapse due to gravity, and more local and subtle changes to style, orientation, and earthquake rate.
The Past Holds the Key to the Future of Aftershock Forecasting
Release Date: MAY 7, 2018 The outcomes of past aftershock sequences can be used to describe the range of possibilities for a current sequence.
Untangling Faults at Depth – What Lies Beneath Panamint Valley, California?
Release Date: APRIL 30, 2018 The eastern edge of Panamint Valley,CA has two types of faults that can be seen in the near-surface geology. 150 geophones and a seismic source will help reveal the subsurface picture.
55-Story Tall Building – Before and After Earthquake Retrofit
Release Date: MARCH 26, 2018 A building in Japan was analyzed before and after a seismic retrofit to make it more resilient to shaking.
Washington DC Stone and Brick Buildings Vulnerable to Distant Quakes
Release Date: JANUARY 2, 2018 A new study shows that DC geologic conditions strongly affect earthquake shaking.
Back to the Future on the San Andreas Fault
Release Date: JUNE 1, 2017 Investigating Past Earthquakes to Inform the Future What does the science say? Where does the information come from? And what does it mean? Investigating past earthquakes to inform the future. Maybe you’ve heard that the “Big One is overdue” on the San Andreas Fault. No one can predict earthquakes, so what does the science really say? Where does the information come from...
Ground-Truthing After the M4.0 Earthquake in Southern Maine, October 16, 2012
Release Date: DECEMBER 1, 2016 Old-fashioned interviews are compared to Did You Feel It? responses for this earthquake.
M7.8 Nepal Earthquake, 2015 – A Small Push to Mt. Everest
Release Date: OCTOBER 1, 2016 A large shallow earthquake moves Mt. Everest 3 cm southwest.
The "Snow Plow Theory"* of Early-Arriving Tsunamis
Release Date: JUNE 1, 2015 What is a splay fault, and how can they affect tsunamis? * completely contrived term by this author, not a scientific term or theory
Seismology in the City
Release Date: May 1, 2015 How seismologists can use noise to see under the ground.