Category Archives: earthquakes

Seismo-volcanism in Eritrea

The Great Rift Valley marks where East Africa is slowly attempting to break away from the rest of the African continent, at a rate of less than a centimetre a year. At the north-eastern end of the rift, where it … Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, tectonics

The slowly building threat of Cascadia – and the slow realisation it was there (book review)

If you asked the average person on the street which part of the USA was most threatened by earthquakes, most of them would probably say California. The San Andreas Fault is so embedded into the popular consciousness that it is … Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, reviews

More large aftershocks rattle Christchurch: will it ever end?

Analysis of the ongoing earthquake sequence. Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, geohazards, tectonics

If you’re waiting for an earthquake warning, you’re doing it wrong

The magnitude 6.3 earthquake that stuck central Italy near the city of L’Aquila in April 2009 killed more than 300 people, made tens of thousands more homeless, and caused billions of Euros’ worth of damage. No-one could have predicted exactly … Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, public science, ranting, society

Earthquake ‘precursors’ and the curse of the false positive

Whenever you read a story that describes some phenomenon that preceded a large earthquake, and dangles the carrot of true earthquake prediction, don’t just look at the headline event. Check for false positives. Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, geophysics