NASA’s Earth Observatory has released a satellite image of lava flows in Kilauea Volcano’s East Rift Zone. The image shows many generations of flows and the trace of craters that mark the center of the rift zone.
“This visualization shows the collapse of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, part of Washington’s State Route 99, and adjacent seawall due to a seismic event. The simulated earthquake is similar to the 2001 Nisqually earthquake but lasts longer, is closer to Seattle, or has a slightly greater magnitude.” Quoted from the Washington State Department of Transportation release.
The city center of Arequipa, Peru is only 11 miles away from the summit of El Misti. Arequipa has nearly 1 million residents and much of the building stone for Arequipa was quarried from pyroclastic flow deposits produced by El Misti.
An article on the Nature.com website reports that USGS researches have linked motion in the Slumgullion landslide of California with changes in air pressure known as “air tides”.
“Every year an average of 50 volcanoes erupt worldwide, putting lives, economic productivity, and homes in danger. USAID is responding to that risk with the world’s only volcano crisis response team. ” Quoted from the USAID press release.
The Department of Planning and Development says that Seattle has about 30 landslides each year and that the landslide season there begins on November 1. This article explores the landslide problem in the city and gives mitigation advice.
Researchers have found evidence of four tsunamis in the Mediterranean that occurred within the past 3500 years. One was linked to the eruption of Santorini volcano and others may have been caused by earthquakes or landslides.
An article in The Sydney Morning Herald reports that insurance against coastal erosion and other coastal hazards is getting difficult to obtain for beachfront homes in Australia. Insurance providers are becoming increasingly concerned about sea level rise and powerful storms.
In the United States, homeowners insurance does not cover damage from a number of natural hazards.
Soufriere Hills Volcano on the Island of Montserrat began its most recent series of eruptions in 1995. Since then much of the southern part of the island has been buried by ash fall, lahars and pyroclastic flows. Explore this image to see what can happen to communities near such eruptions.
NASA’s Earth Observatory released an astronaut photograph of Soufrière Hills, a volcano on the island of Montserrat. In addition to the eruption plume the image shows ground features such as lahar deposits, pyroclastic flow deposits, ash deltas and more.
Hurricane Rick is a Category 5 storm off the west coast of Mexico. It is expected to weaken slightly but still be a powerful storm when it makes landfall on the Baja California Coast early Wednesday morning.
On October 17, 1989 a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the San Francisco area. It killed 63 people and caused over $6 billion in property damage. It was the largest earthquake to occur on the San Andreas fault since the great San Francisco earthquake of April 1906. This article at Time.com asks if the Bay area is better prepared for an earthquake today.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone parallels the Pacific coast of Oregon and has produced five massive earthquakes in the past 1400 years. This article explores the geology of these earthquakes and mitigation strategies.
The USGS has part of their website devoted to information about landslides. There are links to research, advisories, monitoring, events, state and local information, education, and more.
Researchers have determined that magma can rise very rapidly during some types of explosive volcanic eruptions. If magma can rise rapidly then deep magma might be able to produce an eruption in less than the time needed to detect, confirm, communicate and evacuate.
An article on the Mercury News website reports that many people in California do not buy earthquake insurance. They don’t buy it for a variety of reasons. Some think that their homeowners insurance provides coverage (it usually doesn’t) while others think that it is too expensive or just take a chance on going without it.
“After 10 months of relative quiet, Soufriere Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat blasted ash into the sky in early October 2009. This natural-color satellite image shows a plume of ash extending westward from Soufriere Hills on October 6, 2009, a day after eruptive activity resumed on October 5th.” Quoted from the NASA image caption.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in the Torres Islands, Vanuatu area on Thursday, October 08, 2009 at 09:03:15 AM local time. The earthquake occurred near the boundary between the Australia and Pacific plates. The earthquake’s location, depth, and focal mechanism are consistent with the earthquake having occurred as thrust-faulting associated with subduction along the Australia-Pacific plate boundary.
There is broad agreement in the scientific community that a continuing concern exists for a major destructive earthquake in the New Madrid seismic zone. Many structures in Memphis, Tenn., St. Louis, Mo., and other communities in the central Mississippi River Valley region are vulnerable and at risk from severe ground shaking.
San Diego homeowners sued city government because they claimed a water leak from city lines caused the slide. A story on the 10News.com website explains why the judge ruled in favor of the city.
An Associated Press article summarizes the known impact and shares photos of the recent 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck Indonesia on Thursday morning local time.
Researchers at Rice University have evidence that the world’s largest earthquakes can weaken fault zones worldwide and trigger periods of increased global seismic activity.
A strong earthquake struck offshore Indonesia at about 5:16 PM local time. News articles report that many buildings have collapsed trapping hundreds of people inside.
The potential for a huge Pacific Ocean tsunami on the West Coast of North America may be greater than previously thought. The new study of geological evidence along the Gulf of Alaska coast suggests that future tsunamis could reach a scale far beyond that suffered in the tsunami generated by the great 1964 Alaskan earthquake.
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