Out of nearly 6000 homes damaged by the August 23 earthquake in Virginia, only a few percent will be covered by earthquake insurance. A bill in the Virginia legislature, if passed, will require insurance companies to notify all homeowners who have purchased a homeowners insurance policy that does not cover earthquakes.
“The TsunamiReady Program, developed by the National Weather Service, is designed to help cities, towns, counties, universities and other large sites in coastal areas reduce the potential for disastrous tsunami-related consequences.” NOAA has educational materials available for people of all ages.
“Decision-support systems can be used to help synthesize, visualize, and analyze the natural-science and socioeconomic information needed for making risk-reduction and land-use choices.”
“The United Nations reports 2011 was the costliest year in history for catastrophes. It says economic losses from natural disasters, including earthquakes, storms and floods, amounted to $366 billion.” Quoted from the Voice of America article.
Someone must have blamed the Virginiaearthquake of August 23 on hydraulic fracturing. An extensive article in the Daily Press explains why that is impossible.
Water levels at Lake Mead have risen rapidly from record lows about one year ago. This change may have triggered an increase in seismic activity beneath the lake.
USGS has released .pdf files of the “Seismic-Hazard Maps for the Conterminous United States, 2008″. “These maps are intended to summarize the available quantitative information about seismic ground motion hazard for the conterminous United States from geologic and geophysical source.” Quote from the USGS publication release.
Plate “boundary segments that ring the Australia plate represent some of the most seismically active elements of the global plate boundary system, and some of the most rapidly evolving plate interactions. As a result, there are some very complex structures which host many large and great earthquakes.” Quoted from the USGS publication release.
An article on the Oregon Public Broadcasting website describes the proposed use of fluid injection as part of an enhanced geothermal system that will utilize wells drilled on the flank of Newberry Crater. The U.S. Department of Energy is putting $22 million into the project. USGS has a recently installed seismic array that will monitor earthquakes produced by the injection.
An article in the Jackson Hole News and Guide explores earthquake risk along the Teton Fault and includes comments from Wallace Ulrich, former state geologist involved with producing “Wyoming Earthquake Hazard and Risk Analysis.”
“In an attempt to better understand earthquakes and with the goal of one day being able to predict them, an international team of scientists and engineers headed to the heart of where earthquakes happen.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation news release.
ABC News has an article that looks back at the New Madrid Earthquakes – three of the most powerful earthquakes in the recorded history of the United States events that occurred near New Madrid, Missouri in December 1811, January 1812 and February 1812
Every day you can find links to several earth science news topics right here.
Bookmark this page and visit often. You can also receive our news for free by RSS feed or in a daily email message.
Advertising
Popular From Geology.com
Marcellus Shale: The most overlooked resource in the eastern United States!
Diamonds from Coal? Diamonds form under a variety of conditions that rarely involve coal as a source of carbon.
Mineral Rights / Oil & Gas: Who owns the minerals under your land? Have they been sold? Can someone mine without permission?
The Many Uses of Gold: Learn how the unique properties of gold make it extremely suited for a large number of industrial uses.
