What Are the Characteristics of Foreshocks for Large Earthquakes?

map of circum-Pacific foreshocks

28 June 2023–Seismologists agree that foreshocks are the most widely identified signal of an upcoming mainshock earthquake. But do these foreshock sequences have distinctive characteristics that separate them from aftershock sequences, and could these characteristics be used to help forecast mainshocks? In a new paper in Seismological Research Letters, Nadav … Continue Reading »

At Work: Greg McLaskey

Greg McLaskey in lab

19 June 2023–Interested in math and science early on, and looking for a job that would benefit society, Greg McLaskey went to college to study civil engineering. “The thing that excited me the most about civil engineering was non-destructive testing,” he recalled, so he was soon learning all about wave … Continue Reading »

How the February 2023 Türkiye Earthquakes Ruptured and Produced Damaging Shaking

map of historic and Feb 2023 Turkiye earthquakes

23 May 2023–Three studies now published in the open-access journal The Seismic Record offer an initial look at the February 6, 2023 earthquakes in south-central Türkiye and northwestern Syria, including how, where, and how fast the earthquakes ruptured and how they combined as a “devastating doublet” to produce damaging ground … Continue Reading »

At Work: Simona Gabrielli

Simona Gabrielli at Mount St. Helens

22 May 2023–Simona Gabrielli studies seismic attenuation, or what happens when a seismic wave interacts with its surrounding medium. She compares it to how a stone dropped into a pond sends ripples through the water, and the ripples change direction depending on what they meet as they move across the … Continue Reading »