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.
“More than 500 volcanic vents have been identified in the State of California. At least 76 of these vents have erupted, some repeatedly, during the last 10,000 yr. Past volcanic activity has ranged in scale and type from small rhyolitic and basaltic eruptions through large catastrophic rhyolitic eruptions.” Quoted from the USGS report.
“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.”
An article in the Los Angeles Times reports that the California Department of Transportation would like to abandon State Highway 39 because landslide and other problems are costing $1.5 million per year to repair.
Derrick Pitts, Chief Astronomer at the Franklin Institute explains the recent “medium class” solar storm and how it might compare storms that will occur in 2013 when a solar maximum occurs.
“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.
The World Economic Forum just released their annual report, Global Risks 2012, that describes 50 global risks grouped into economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological categories. Some of these risks are geoscience based and include rising greenhouse gas emissions, volatility in energy prices and more.
Damage caused by a landslide that cut off the Paseo Del Mar highway near San Pedro, California appears to be confined to an area fenced off by the city. The Contra Costa Times has a photo showing the severity of damage.
“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.
An article on the Redding.com website considers the types of problems that will occur in the next eruption at Mt. Shasta. The mountain has erupted at least seven times in the past 4000 years.
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
“NASA and Ohio State University researchers have discovered the major tsunami generated by the Japanearthquake of March 2011 was a long-hypothesized ‘merging tsunami.’ The tsunami doubled in intensity over rugged ocean ridges, amplifying its destructive power at landfall.”
Hundreds of small earthquakes per month are being recorded in the area around Katla – a volcano in Iceland with a long history of very powerful eruptions.
Researchers debate the potential impact of a new volcano near Auckland, New Zealand. Where will it occur? How much warning? How big is the danger zone?
Building a highway across ancient landslides with 30+ degree slopes in an area that gets 100 inches of rain per year can lead to problems.
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