Category Archives: tectonics

Reverberations of the Honshu tsunami

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

On Friday 11 March 2011, when the fault ruptured off of the Japanese coast in a M9.0 earthquake, it caused a sudden vertical movement of the seafloor, displacing the water above it and transferring energy to the ocean. As the … Continue reading →

Categories: basics, by Anne, geohazards, tectonics

Magnitude 8.9 (or 9.0, or 9.1!) Earthquake off the coast of Japan

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Chris Rowan

Around 3pm local time yesterday, there was a massive earthquake about 100 miles off the east coast of northern Honshu Island, Japan. Initially calculated to be a magnitude 8.9, it has since been upgraded: the current CMT solution at the … Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, geohazards, tectonics

Aftershocks, triggered earthquakes, and Christchurch’s seismic future

Posted on February 26, 2011 by Chris Rowan

As more scientific information becomes available regarding last week’s magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch, we can look a bit more closely at the nature of this earthquake, how it fits into the overall tectonic picture in New Zealand, and future … Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, society, tectonics

Magnitude 6.3 earthquake rocks Christchurch

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Chris Rowan

[Note: see the bottom of this post for the latest updates and links – last update 26th February]. A few hours ago, Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island of New Zealand, was once again shaken by a large … Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, geohazards, society, tectonics