'Surrey swarm' earthquakes not caused by nearby oil extraction, study suggests  Science Daily

Cornwall earthquake: Homes shake in Helston  BBC News

Minor earthquake hits Cheshire  Cheshire Live

Devon braced for aftershocks following earthquake  Devon Live

Second earthquake recorded this year in Northamptonshire  Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Oil workers in North Sea feel effects of earthquake, with platform 'shaking'  Evening Telegraph

'Several people' feel shaking as 4.2 magnitude earthquake strikes 190 miles from Dundee  The Courier

'Rumbling' felt during Ardnamurchan earthquake  BBC News

Surrey named as one of the UK's earthquake hotspots  Surrey Live

Earthquake recorded off Cornwall coast  Cornwall Live

West Cornwall hit by 2.2 magnitude earthquake | West Country - ITV News  ITV News

Residents speak of shock after being woken by EARTHQUAKE in early hours of morning  Hartlepool Mail

Reports of an earthquake felt in Leicestershire | Central - ITV News  ITV News

Snowdonia earthquake confirmed by British Geological Survey  Daily Post

'Sonic boom' as small earthquake shakes Cornwall  ITV News

Somerset earthquake: Homes shaken by 3.2 magnitude tremor  BBC News

Earthquake rumbles under sea off Norfolk coast | Great Yarmouth News  Great Yarmouth Mercury

Data from a recent study of wild takins in the high-altitude forests of the Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve in southeast China has shown that the […]

The post Great Sichuan earthquake of 2008 had little impact on of China’s wild takins appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The 5.8-magnitude earthquake that shook the eastern United States on the afternoon of Tuesday, Aug. 23, caused minor damage to some of the Smithsonian's natural history collections. All public Smithsonian museums are open and have been determined safe for visitors and staff.

The post Earthquake causes minor damage to Smithsonian natural history collections appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Richard Wunderman is managing editor of the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network and a geologist in the Division of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian’s […]

The post Q&A: Smithsonian volcanologist Richard Wunderman answers questions about the Aug. 23, East Coast earthquake appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Smithsonian geologist Liz Cottrell discusses the March 11, 2011 Japan earthquake and its mechanics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Full Text:

Bridges make travel faster and more convenient, but, in an earthquake, these structures are subject to forces that can cause extensive damage and make them unsafe. Now civil and environmental engineer Petros Sideris of Texas A&M University is leading a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research project to investigate the performance of hybrid sliding-rocking (HSR) columns. HSR columns provide the same support as conventional bridge infrastructure columns but are more earthquake-resistant. HSR columns are a series of individual concrete segments held together by steel cables that allow for controlled sliding and rocking. This allows the columns to shift without damage, while post-tensioning strands ensure that at the end of an earthquake the columns are pushed back to their original position. Conventional bridges are cast-in-place monolithic concrete elements that are strong but inflexible. Structural damage in these bridge columns, typically caused by a natural disaster, often forces a bridge to close until repairs are completed. But bridges with HSR columns can withstand large earthquakes with minimal damage and require minor repairs, likely without bridge closures. Such infrastructure helps with post-disaster response and recovery and can save thousands in taxpayer dollars. In an earthquake, HSR columns provide "multiple advantages to the public," Sideris said. "By preventing bridge damage, we can maintain access to affected areas immediately after an event for response teams to be easily deployed, and help affected communities recover faster. In mitigating losses related to post-event bridge repairs and bridge closures, more funds can be potentially directed to supporting the recovery of the affected communities." According to Joy Pauschke, NSF program director for natural hazards engineering, "NSF invests in fundamental engineering research so that, in the future, the nation's infrastructure can be more resilient to earthquakes, hurricanes, and other forces of nature."

Image credit: Texas A&M University

Hydraulic fracturing has a low risk for inducing earthquakes that can be felt by people, but underground injection of wastewater produced by hydraulic fracturing and other energy technologies has a higher risk of causing such earthquakes, says a new report from the National Research Council.

Several strong earthquakes around the world have resulted in a phenomenon called soil liquefaction, the seismic generation of excess porewater pressures and softening of granular soils, often to the point that they may not be able to support the foundations of buildings and other infrastructure.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says that enhancements to the geodetic infrastructure are needed to answer important questions about sea level rise, water resources, geological hazards, and more over the next decade.

Full Text:

Bridges make travel faster and more convenient, but, in an earthquake, these structures are subject to forces that can cause extensive damage and make them unsafe. Now civil and environmental engineer Petros Sideris of Texas A&M University is leading a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research project to investigate the performance of hybrid sliding-rocking (HSR) columns. HSR columns provide the same support as conventional bridge infrastructure columns but are more earthquake-resistant. HSR columns are a series of individual concrete segments held together by steel cables that allow for controlled sliding and rocking. This allows the columns to shift without damage, while post-tensioning strands ensure that at the end of an earthquake the columns are pushed back to their original position. Conventional bridges are cast-in-place monolithic concrete elements that are strong but inflexible. Structural damage in these bridge columns, typically caused by a natural disaster, often forces a bridge to close until repairs are completed. But bridges with HSR columns can withstand large earthquakes with minimal damage and require minor repairs, likely without bridge closures. Such infrastructure helps with post-disaster response and recovery and can save thousands in taxpayer dollars. In an earthquake, HSR columns provide "multiple advantages to the public," Sideris said. "By preventing bridge damage, we can maintain access to affected areas immediately after an event for response teams to be easily deployed, and help affected communities recover faster. In mitigating losses related to post-event bridge repairs and bridge closures, more funds can be potentially directed to supporting the recovery of the affected communities." According to Joy Pauschke, NSF program director for natural hazards engineering, "NSF invests in fundamental engineering research so that, in the future, the nation's infrastructure can be more resilient to earthquakes, hurricanes, and other forces of nature."

Image credit: Texas A&M University

By analysing previous disasters, lessons learnt can be incorporated into policies and plans to manage the effects of future disasters. A recent study examining the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake in Italy suggests that although the national response effectively dealt with the emergency, longer-term measures to help local populations cope with the aftermath of the disaster need to be set out more clearly.

Satellite data from the Torres Islands in the southwest Pacific suggest that rising sea-levels in the region widely attributed to climate change is also partly caused by sinking of the islands following earthquakes in the 1990s, according to recent research.

A recent overview and analysis shows that increasing amounts of gas drilling at Groningen, the largest gas field in Europe, led to a dramatic rise in regional earthquakes between 2001 and 2013. After a reduction in extraction was introduced by the Dutch Government, earthquake numbers started to fall. Statistical analysis reveals that if high extraction rates were resumed, about 35 earthquakes, with a magnitude (M) of over 1.5 on the Richter scale, might occur annually from the year 2021 onwards, including four with a damaging magnitude of over 2.5.

An earthquake that killed nine people in Lorca, Spain, last year could have been triggered by groundwater being drained from the area for use in irrigation, according to scientists. The study found that the ground moved in the same places as subsidence has been occurring since the 1960s, due to the extraction of groundwater.

The number of earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater in the central and eastern US has increased significantly in recent years, from about 21 a year between 1967 and 2000, to over 300 between 2010 and 2012. Most of this increase seems to be linked to the deep injection of wastewater in underground wells, according to a recent review of seismic activity.

Team of scientists and engineers head to the heart of earthquake country to learn more about predicting when and where an earthquake will happen — before the

With groundwater pumping and the evaporation of heavy weights of water, Earth's crust rebounds. This movement affects the fault, causing earthquakes.

Ancient tree stumps set the tone at Neskowin Ghost Forest in Oregon.

Earthquakes triggered by fluids injected deep underground, such as during the controversial practice of fracking, may be more common than previously thought, a

Earthquake in Japan raises concerns about what could happen in the U.S.

In the end, delivery dates are unimportant — but they do show how connected we are.

In 2011, Japan was one of the most prepared countries in the world for a massive earthquake. Yet when a mega-quake hit Japan last March, sparking a huge tsunami

The magnitude 8.6 earthquake that struck in the Indian Ocean off the western coast of Sumatra today resurrected fears of a repeat of the 2004 Indian Ocean earth

The risk of a deadly tsunami ravaging the United States is now leading scientists to investigate hazards posed by giant earthquakes off the Alaskan coast.

The deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit the Solomon Islands today struck along a subduction zone.

The Youngstown quakes were triggered by wastewater injection, scientists have discovered.

Science has finally discovered the answer to the centuries-old question of how to turn something into gold.

Developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, the technology 'aims to reduce the impact of earthquakes and save lives and property.'

Unexplained natural phenomena, which is regularly observed in the aftermath of quakes, occurred during last week's 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

Leave it to Shigeru Ban to breathe ingenious new life into the painfully abundant remains of a major catastrophe.

Is God mad at us for recycling or behaving badly? Some of the right wing's sharpest minds think so.

More than 250 earthquakes have struck the state's Southern border since New Year's Eve, and it's not the first time this has happened.

Restaurants are serving up Amatrice Pasta and donating proceeds to help earthquake victims.

The Coastal Pacific Train route closed following the Kaikoura earthquake in November 2016. The 61-mile route will reopen on Dec. 1, 2018.