Earthquakes, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 17, 2020

Weird, Z-shaped faults could trigger a large earthquake on California's San Andreas Fault

It's impossible to know when the San Andreas Fault will erupt with its next big earthquake — a temblor that could impact the nearly 13 million people who live in the Los Angeles metro area — but it appears that two other nearby faults might have some say in that...

Jul 22, 2020

Powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes off Alaska coast

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska, south of the Aleutian Islands, Tuesday night (July 21) local time, prompting fear of a tsunami, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The earthquake hit at 10:12 p.m. local time (2:12 a.m. ET on July 22, or 06:12 UTC) about 65...

Aug 17, 2020

Weird 'boomerang' earthquake recorded for the first time

A massive earthquake in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in 2016 ricocheted east then west like a geologic boomerang. Boomerang quakes have only been rarely anecdotally reported, and never before recorded scientifically. This strangely complex earthquake happened on a relatively simple, straight-line fault called an ocean transform fault. That...

Sep 8, 2020

Ultradeep melting rocks drive invisible quakes beneath San Andreas Fault

Along the San Andreas fault near the town of Parkfield, California, an incredibly sensitive array of seismic and GPS instruments has for years been detecting something strange: deep earthquakes that occur well below where most seismic movement occurs in California. These quakes can't be felt at the surface, but they're...

Oct 23, 2020

Fault near Portland could unleash a major earthquake

A fault near Portland, Oregon, has the capacity to cause strong shaking in the region — and has done so as recently as 1,000 years ago. New research into the Gales Creek fault, which lies 22 miles (35 kilometers) west of Portland, reveals that earthquakes on the fault have ruptured...

Oct 30, 2020

Powerful earthquake strikes off Turkey's coast, killing at least 14

Editor’s Note: As of Nov. 4, at least 116 people have died and 1,035 people have been injured in the earthquake, with 137 of them still hospitalized, according to The Associated Press. A powerful earthquake struck in the Aegean Sea earlier today (Oct. 30), causing nearly 20 buildings in Turkey's...

Mar 6, 2021

Swarm of 20,000 earthquakes could make Iceland's volcanoes erupt

More than 20,000 earthquakes have shaken southern Iceland this week, rattling the capital city of Reykjavik and keeping geologists on their toes as all signs point to a pending volcanic eruption, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) reported on Thursday (March 4). This week's marathon of quakes continues a swarm of...

May 7, 2021

Was a humongous Cascadia earthquake just one of many?

An enormous Cascadia earthquake that sent a tsunami all the way to Japan in 1700 may have been one of a sequence of dangerous quakes, instead of a single devastating temblor. The 1700 Cascadia earthquake is known from oral histories of local tribes living in what is today British Columbia,...

May 10, 2021

Earthquake early warning system uses AI to predict shaking

An earthquake early warning system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to predict how the ground will move during a temblor can give several seconds' advance notice that the shaking is coming. A similar system that uses more traditional computing power already exists on the U.S. West Coast. It's called ShakeAlert,...

Aug 5, 2021

More than 1,000 earthquakes swarmed Yellowstone Park last month. Is 'the big one' nearing?

The Earth is rumbling beneath Yellowstone National Park again, with swarms of more than 1,000 earthquakes recorded in the region in July 2021, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report. This is the most seismic activity the park has seen in a single month since June 2017, when...

Aug 9, 2021

Possible evidence for biblical earthquake found in City of David

Archaeologists have found evidence of an earthquake that hit the City of David in Jerusalem about 2,800 years ago and that could be a major event described in the Hebrew Bible. During their excavations, the archaeological team, from the Israel Antiquities Authority, discovered a layer of destruction dating to that...

Aug 16, 2021

Haiti earthquake death toll soars to more than 1,200

Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET, on Monday (Aug. 16). At least 1,297 people have died and another 5,700 are reported injured after a magnitude-7.2 earthquake struck Haiti on Saturday (Aug. 14), rocking the capital city and toppling buildings, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and news reports. With the potential...

Nov 5, 2021

Strange earthquakes in South Carolina traced to man-made lake

A series of small earthquakes northwest of Columbia, South Carolina, are caused by a man-made lake built more than 40 years ago, according to geologists. The tiny temblors — magnitude 2.0 and less — are jangling nerves near South Carolina's Lake Monticello, according to The State newspaper, but the tremors...

Nov 8, 2021

Deepest earthquake ever detected should have been impossible

Scientists have detected the deepest earthquake ever, a staggering 467 miles (751 kilometers) below the Earth's surface. That depth puts the quake in the lower mantle, where seismologists expected earthquakes to be impossible. That's because under extreme pressures, rocks are more likely to bend and deform than they are to...

Dec 8, 2021

Swarm of more than 55 earthquakes strikes off Oregon coast

More than 50 earthquakes have shaken the ocean floor off the Oregon coast in the past two days. But scientists say the earthquake swarm has a low risk of threatening life or property on land. The quakes, 55 of them as of midday on Wednesday (Dec. 8), were mostly in...