Earthquakes, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 23, 2018

Tons of Major Quakes Have Rattled the World Recently. Does That Mean Anything?

This August is shaping up to be a pretty shaky month, thanks to several large earthquakes across the globe. These earthquakes have spurred reports that California is more likely to experience a catastrophic earthquake, colloquially known as the big one, very soon. But experts say that's not how earthquakes work....

Oct 2, 2018

7.5-Magnitude Earthquake and Tsunami Devastate Indonesia

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 11:33 a.m. E.T. on Tuesday, Oct. 2 On Friday (Sept. 28), a 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit near Sulawesi, Indonesia. Shortly after, a tsunami with waves of up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) hit the coast, leaving at least 1,200 people dead and dozens missing....

Nov 30, 2018

A 7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Just Shook Alaska

A significant earthquake rocked Anchorage, Alaska at 8:29 a.m. local time today (Nov. 30). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initially reported that the quake had a magnitude of 6.6, but later updated that to 7.0. The epicenter was 8 miles (13 kilometers) north of Anchorage, and a tsunami warning has...

Feb 18, 2019

A Single Earthquake Can Move Millions of Tons of Carbon into Earth's Deepest Trenches

In 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake rumbled to life off the coast of Tohoku, Japan, triggering a massive tsunami and killing more than 15,000 people. The global effects of the Tohoku earthquake — now regarded as the fourth most powerful since recording began in 1900 — are still being studied. Scientists...

Apr 5, 2019

California's Eerie 'Earthquake Pause' Is Unprecedented

It's a little too quiet in California, seismically speaking. The state is experiencing a century-long lull in large, ground-rupturing earthquakes, temblors that actually offset the earth at the surface. The 7.9-magnitude Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 was a ground-rupturing quake; photographs taken in its aftermath show roads and fences...

Apr 9, 2019

These Rocks Look Like They Could Topple at Any Moment. They Hold 1,000 Years of Earthquake Secrets.

Stacks of perfectly balanced large rocks in Israel's Negev Desert appear to defy gravity, but a good shake could send them tumbling. So, researchers are examining them to learn about earthquakes that have struck this region over the past millennium. By evaluating the age and stability of the rocks, researchers...

Apr 18, 2019

Tiny Earthquakes Shake Southern California Every 3 Minutes

Southern California is a lot shakier than ever before realized. According to a new study, a tiny earthquake rumbles through the southern portion of the Golden State every 3 minutes. These temblors won't knock down walls or send palm trees swaying. In fact, they're too small for even typical seismic...

Apr 23, 2019

NASA Just Detected the First Marsquake on the Red Planet

Scientists might have just recorded the first-ever marsquake on the Red Planet. Last December, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission's lander extended its robotic arms and placed a seismometer — a device that measures quakes — onto Mars' surface. The device has been listening...

May 15, 2019

A Massive 'Blob' of Rock Stretching Under Asia Might Be Triggering Hundreds of Earthquakes

The Hindu Kush mountain range — which stretches about 500 miles (800 kilometers) along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan — shudders with more than 100 earthquakes at a magnitude of 4.0 or greater every year. The area is one of the most seismically active spots in the world, especially...

May 28, 2019

Why Thousands of Aftershocks of a 1959 Earthquake Just Rumbled Through Yellowstone 60 Years Later

A swarm of thousands of tiny earthquakes that rumbled below Yellowstone National Park in 2017 and 2018 might be the long-awaited aftershocks of a much larger quake — which struck 60 years ago. In a paper published April 30 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers examined the seismicity of...

Jan 7, 2020

A Major Earthquake Knocked Out Power Across Puerto Rico This Morning

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook southwestern Puerto Rico this morning (Jan. 7), according to the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS); this is the largest yet in a series of quakes that have hit the region. At least one person died as walls collapsed around the area, and eight more people...

Mar 4, 2020

Silent earthquakes are tied to changes in fluid deep below Cascadia's fault

Every 14 months, silent earthquakes ever-so-slightly rattle the Cascadia subduction zone, which is capable of producing a magnitude 9.0 earthquake. Now, research shows that these so-called aseismic quakes are tied to fluid moving miles underground. These findings don't affect what we know about the risk of a dangerous quake in...

Mar 18, 2020

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake just slammed Utah, the state's largest in nearly 30 years

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck northern Utah at 7:09 a.m. local time today, causing considerable damage in and around the towns of Magna and Salt Lake City, according to the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). The quake is the largest temblor the state has felt since a magnitude 5.9 quake...

May 15, 2020

Magnitude-6.5 earthquake in Nevada has a long history of temblors

A magnitude-6.5 earthquake rattled western Nevada just before sunrise today (May 15), waking up people at 4:03 a.m. local time (11:03 UTC), well before their morning alarms went off, according to news reports. This is the strongest earthquake to shake Nevada in 65 years. As of 5 a.m. local time...

Jun 23, 2020

Powerful 7.4 earthquake rocks southern Mexico, killing 1

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the southern coast of Mexico at 10:29 local time this morning, causing buildings to sway hundreds of miles away in Mexico City and resulting in at least one death, NBC news reported. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the quake was centered near the...