2 May 2024–In the shadow of Washington State’s Mount Rainier, about 90,000 people live in the path of a potential large lahar—a destructive, fluid and fast-moving debris flow associated with volcanic slopes. At the Seismological Society of America (SSA)’s 2024 Annual Meeting, U.S. Geological Survey volcano seismologist Seth Moran described … Continue Reading »

1 May 2024–Friction along a fault during an earthquake can sometimes generate a rise in temperatures high enough to produce a signal in the organic and mineral material contained within the fault’s rocks. At the Seismological Society of America (SSA)’s 2024 Annual Meeting, Genevieve Coffey of GNS Science discussed how … Continue Reading »

1 May 2024–Tiny seismic signals captured around the globe can be used to build a picture of the Earth’s inner core, its fabric made up of differences in the size, shape and orientation of iron grains. This glimpse at the inner core also offers a window into the evolution of … Continue Reading »

1 May 2024–Trees caught up in two prehistoric, devastating landslides in the Coast Ranges of northern California suggest that the landslides could be linked to major earthquakes, including the magnitude 7.9 1906 San Francisco earthquake, researchers said at the Seismological Society of America (SSA)’s 2024 Annual Meeting. In the Mule … Continue Reading »

1 May 2024–When a magnitude 5+ earthquake occurs in the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey makes a variety of aftershock forecast communication products available to the public. But is there an ethical responsibility to make aftershock products more widely available to people affected by earthquakes in other countries? In … Continue Reading »