Advancing earthquake science worldwide
11 December 2018–Using data gleaned from historical reports, researchers have now identified the sources of some of the most destructive Indonesian earthquakes in Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara, using these data to independently test how well Indonesia’s 2010 and 2017 seismic hazard assessments perform in predicting damaging ground motion. The … Continue Reading »
SAN FRANCISCO (3 December 2018) – The Seismological Society of America (SSA) announced today the appointment of Allison Bent, a research seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, as editor-in-chief of Seismological Research Letters (SRL). Accessible by all SSA members and available in more than 1,300 academic, government and corporate institutions worldwide, … Continue Reading »
6 November 2018–A bleached fringe of dead marine algae, strung along the coastlines of two islands off the coast of Chile, offers a unique glimpse at how the land rose during the 2016 magnitude 7.6 Chiloé earthquake, according to a new study in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of … Continue Reading »
31 October 2018–The depth of the rock layer that serves as the disposal site for wastewater produced during unconventional oil extraction plays a significant role in whether that disposal triggers earthquakes in the U.S., according to a new study that takes a broad look at the issue. The research published … Continue Reading »
16 October 2018–Underwater explosions detonated by the U.S. Navy to test the sturdiness of ships’ hulls have provided seismologists with a test opportunity of their own: how much can we know about an underwater explosion from the seismic and acoustic data it generates? In a study published in the Bulletin … Continue Reading »
26 September 2018–The epicenter of the 3 September 2017 nuclear test explosion in North Korea occurred about 3.6 kilometers northwest of the country’s first nuclear test in October 2006, according to a new high-precision analysis of the explosion and its aftermath. The study published in Seismological Research Letters by Lian-Feng Zhao … Continue Reading »
25 September 2018–The seasonal filling and emptying of reservoirs in India can cause measurable deformation of the surrounding rock, reducing the strength of nearby faults and potentially triggering earthquakes, according to two new papers published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. Researchers in India used global positioning … Continue Reading »
SSA announces the candidates for the 2019 election to add four members to the Board of Directors. The nominating committee, chaired by Jim Mori, confirmed a slate of six individuals to run for office. The committee included: Jim Mori (Kyoto University) Rachel Abercrombie (Boston University) Gail Atkinson (Western University) Ken … Continue Reading »
22 August 2018–The bright flashes that lit up the evening skies near Detroit, Michigan earlier this year were not the only signs of the meteor that disintegrated in the atmosphere on 17 January 2018. The meteor explosion was also captured by infrasonic microphones and seismometers, offering a rare chance to … Continue Reading »
1 August 2018–Using an array of coffee-can sized geophones deployed for about a month in backyards, golf courses and public parks, researchers collected enough data to allow them to map the depth and shape of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino sedimentary basins of Los Angeles, California. Seismologists think these … Continue Reading »
14 June 2018–SSA is pleased to announce the recipients of several of the Society’s awards for 2018. The Harry Fielding Reid Medal, the Charles F. Richter Early Career Award and the Frank Press Public Service Award are among the highest honors conferred by the Society. The Reid Medal recipient is David M. … Continue Reading »
13 June 2018–Since 2007, the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability or CSEP has been studying earthquake forecast models to find out how well each model stacks up against its competitors, and how well each forecast predicts later seismic activity. At four centers in California, New Zealand, Europe and … Continue Reading »
17 May 2018–SSA plans to hold its annual meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2022, the society’s new president Peter Shearer announced 14 May at the opening ceremony that welcomed participants to the Seismology of the Americas conference. The 14-17 May gathering in Miami brought together SSA and the … Continue Reading »
17 May 2018–Repeating seismic events—events that have the same frequency content and waveform shapes—may offer a glimpse at the movement of magma and volcanic gases underneath Turrialba and Poas, two well-known active volcanoes in Costa Rica. At the 2018 SSA Annual Meeting, Rebecca Salvage of the Observatorio Vulcanologico y Sismologico … Continue Reading »
17 May 2018–The shape of the continental shelf off the southern Mexican coast played a role in the formation of long-lasting tsunami edge waves that appeared after last September’s magnitude 8.2 earthquake, according to researchers speaking at the SSA 2018 Annual Meeting. Edge waves are coastal waves generated by a … Continue Reading »
17 May 2018–Can altering the amount or rate of fluid injection and production in an oil and gas field or carbon storage site affect induced earthquakes in that field? A physics-based simulation presented at the 2018 SSA Annual Meeting suggests that this type of “active pressure management” can be useful … Continue Reading »
16 May 2018–This spring, researchers will release an expanded database that covers the geometry of most of the world’s subducting slabs, the massive pieces of the Earth’s crust that sink into the mantle at tectonic plate boundaries. Called Slab2, the updated database will help researchers determine the impact of 3-D … Continue Reading »
16 May 2018–Devastating magnitude 8.0 to 9.0 megathrust earthquakes and accompanying tsunamis appear to have hit the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Southwest Canada about every 500 years on average. But some scientists think the recurrence interval between some of these large earthquakes may be shorter—along the lines of every 300 … Continue Reading »
16 May 2018–Last September’s magnitude 8.2 Tehuantepec earthquake and the magnitude 7.1 Puebla-Morelos earthquakes in Mexico led to an intense period of study for Latin American seismologists, with new research on everything from strong motion records to tsunamis generated by the two significant events. The 2018 SSA Annual Meeting devoted … Continue Reading »
16 May 2018–The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has researchers reevaluating whether a magnitude 9.0 megathrust earthquake and resulting tsunami might also be a likely risk for the Caribbean region, seismologists reported at the SSA 2018 Annual Meeting. “Before 2004, we thought an earthquake of about 8.0 was about right for … Continue Reading »
16 May 2018–There are more than a million kilometers of underwater telecommunication cables lining the world’s ocean floor. Scientists would like to outfit those cables with environmental sensors—including seismometers—to improve the speed and success of tsunami warnings and to create better models of the Earth’s interior. At the 2018 SSA … Continue Reading »
15 May 2018–Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is among the world’s most active volcanoes, with a persistent lava lake as one of its defining features. In a talk at the 2018 SSA Annual Meeting, Adrien Oth of the European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology discussed how he … Continue Reading »
[Leer en español] 15 May 2018–New seismic hazard and risk models developed for South America suggest that more than 160 million people—about one-third of the continent’s total population—live in areas with significantly elevated seismic hazard, according to a report discussed at the 2018 SSA Annual Meeting. Risk is greatest in … Continue Reading »
15 May 2018–Record cold temperatures during the winter of 2014 in the Midwestern United States froze large parts of the Great Lakes—and inadvertently offered seismologists a chance to learn more about the seismic signals created by the lakes’ wind-driven waves. The deep freeze stilled the waves and created a period … Continue Reading »
15 May 2018–Scientists monitoring the vibrations of natural rock arches have found that the resonant frequencies of arches undergo dynamic changes from day to day, according to research presented at the 2018 SSA Annual Meeting. University of Utah doctoral student Paul Geimer and colleagues are analyzing these frequency changes to … Continue Reading »
15 May 2018–Almost 70 years later, the man remembers the August day in Playa Rincon, when he clung to the top of an almond tree to survive a tsunami where the waters rushed about 700 meters inland after a magnitude 8.1 earthquake. His recollections and other astonishing eyewitness accounts of … Continue Reading »
International Travel Grant recipient Garmalia Mentor-William wanted to attend the 2018 Seismology of the Americas meeting to “meet other scientists, learn about new technologies and learn lessons from other countries” that could help Haiti – her home country – prepare for future earthquake disasters. After the 2010 M7.0 earthquake that … Continue Reading »
Gaining insight into where earthquake aftershocks might occur is a long-standing challenge in earthquake science, especially as some aftershocks can approach the size of the mainshock earthquake and can damage buildings and roads already weakened by the main earthquake. Phoebe Robinson DeVries and her coauthors are pursuing one way to … Continue Reading »
At first glance, an induced seismicity workshop might seem like an odd destination for Rachel Hatch, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her interest in earthquakes started early, but it mostly revolved around seismic events with natural causes. She was born in San Francisco a month after … Continue Reading »
The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) and the Seismological Society of America (SSA) are pleased to announce that U.S. Geological Survey research geophysicist Robert W. Graves is the 2019 recipient of the William B. Joyner Lecture Award. Graves will deliver the Joyner Lecture at the EERI 2019 Annual Meeting to … Continue Reading »