Earthquakes, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2005

World's Tallest Building Possibly Causing Earthquakes

TAIPEI, Taiwan - The weight of the world's tallest skyscraper -- specially built to withstand Taiwan's frequent earthquakes -- could be causing a rise in the number of tremors beneath it, a professor from the island wrote in a scientific journal. Lin Cheng-horng, an earthquake specialist at the National Taiwan...

Oct 31, 2005

New Earthquake Warnings: Enough Time to Dive Under a Desk

The magnitude of an earthquake can be roughly predicted as the shaking begins, according to new research that promises to provide several seconds of warning before the brunt of a catastrophe strikes. Earthquake prediction has proved tricky. Scientists can't pinpoint the timing of a rupture to within days or even...

Sep 30, 2005

Odds Put on Next Great San Francisco Earthquake

The San Francisco Bay area has a 1 percent chance of a magnitude-7 or greater earthquake every year and a 25 percent chance that one will occur within two decades, according to a new computer forecast. The Virtual California program was developed by John Rundle at the University of California...

Jul 31, 2005

Inside an Earthquake: 2 Miles Down in Fault Zone

Scientists breached a major underground earthquake zone this week in Southern California by drilling a hole more than 2 miles down into the San Andreas Fault. The hole will be lined with steel and concrete, then instruments will be installed to monitor the many small and large temblors that occur...

Jul 31, 2005

Major Earthquake Strikes Near Japan

Updated 6:30 a.m. ET, Aug. 16 A major earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 struck offshore, northeast of Tokyo, Japan. It occurred near the east coast of Honshu, 60 miles East of the town of Sendai. [Map] The quake struck at 11:46 a.m. local time (02:46 Universal Time) on...

Apr 30, 2005

Only in California: Daily Earthquake Forecasts

Geologists have constructed a model that calculates the probability of an earthquake for a given day and location in California, much like a meteorologist announces today's chance of rain. A color-coded probability map is available on the Internet. When an earthquake strikes, follow-up temblors, or aftershocks, are quite possible. Matthew...

Mar 31, 2005

Crumbled Tombstones Lead to New View of 1906 Earthquake

The great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was the deadliest in U.S. history. A new map of the event, based in part on crumbled tombstones, shows in detail the extent of ground rumbling and provides lessons for future events. On the morning of April 18, 1906, an earthquake of approximate...

Feb 28, 2005

Mystery Behind Monday's 'Great' Earthquake

Monday's 8.7-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra apparently did not generate a significant tsunami, despite originating in the same area as the Dec. 26 earthquake that unleashed towering killer waves across the Indian Ocean. The reason remains a mystery for now. This new event is very significant - what...

Jan 31, 2005

Central U.S. Warned of Larger Earthquakes to Come

A moderate earthquake that rattled parts of Arkansas and Tennessee Thursday should serve as a wake-up call to the central United States about the potential for much stronger events, experts said. The temblor, preliminarily put at magnitude 4.1, shook eastern Arkansas and western Tennessee early in the morning. It was...

Jan 31, 2005

Quake Death Toll in 2004 Could Be Worst Since 1556

A final analysis of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami is likely to create a death toll in 2004 greater than any caused by ground shaking in more than four centuries. While the total deaths from the Dec. 26, 2004 disaster remains uncertain, it stands at 275,950, according to a...

Dec 31, 2004

Tsunami-Generating Earthquake Near U.S. Possibly Imminent

There are only two places in the United States where colliding tectonic plates could cause a major tsunami, and new studies show a new earthquake in at least one of these locations could be imminent. The Cascadia subduction zone, a 680-mile fault that runs 50 miles off the coast of...

Sep 30, 2006

Maine Quake Causes Dramatic Drop in Well Water Level

A minor earthquake that shook parts of Maine at 8:07 p.m. local time Monday caused water to drop 2.5 feet at a U.S. Geological Survey monitoring well. Nearly 17 hours later, the water level was still dropping, scientists announced today. Hydrologists call the change in the well “dramatic,” and said...

May 31, 2006

Earthquake Aftershocks Not What They Seemed

Aftershocks are more common than primary earthquakes, but researchers know little about how the two are related. They have long assumed that a main quake reconfigures stress on a fault, leading to subsequent tremblings that have roughly the same origin. But a new study finds some aftershocks are triggered primarily...

Jul 31, 2007

In Surprise, Major Earthquake Fault Slips Backward

A vast chunk of Earth sliding under Mexico has surprisingly reversed direction, puzzling geologists and leaving them wondering whether the ground might be poised to pummel Mexico City with a devastating earthquake. The offshore tectonic plate had been sliding toward Mexico City at a rate of 1 inch per year,...

Apr 30, 2007

Image Gallery: Deadly Earthquakes

A City Torn Apart (Image credit: USGS)The California earthquake of April 18, 1906 ranks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time. It measured a magnitude of 7.8. Shaking damage was equally severe in many other places along the fault rupture. The frequently quoted value of 700 deaths...