Spatial clustering of aftershocks explains why simple statistical models often outperform complex physics‐based earthquake forecasting models even if the physical mechanisms are correctly modeled.
earthquakes
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Earthquakes Can Acidify Groundwater
Fracturing during microearthquakes can cause groundwater pH drops. The change is temporary but can be equivalent to the difference between water and vinegar.
Posted inScience Updates
Using Earthquake Forensics to Study Subduction from Space
Researchers combined satellite geodetic measurements of surface motion with a new geophysical data inversion method to probe the Chilean subduction zone in the wake of the 2010 Maule earthquake.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Going Down: How Do Cities Carry That Weight?
Calculations show that the added weight of growing cities can lead to tens of millimeters of subsidence, an effect that needs to be considered for coastal cities under threat by sea-level rise.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Researchers Produce First Artificial Icequakes
Laboratory experiments show similarities between glacier beds and tectonic faults.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Predicting the Next Big Frost Quake
Frost quakes occur in boreal regions when rapidly expanding ice underground causes frozen soils to fracture. A recent frost quake in Finland has given scientists a rare look into how they form.
Posted inNews
Wildfires Threaten West Coast’s Seismic Network
A dense seismic network keeps vigil over the western United States, sensing quakes soon after they begin so people nearby can brace themselves. How do wildfires affect these guardians of the West Coast?
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Groove is in the Fault
Rock sliding experiments on meter scales show groove patterns which are controlled by normal stress. This may help better understand earthquake source conditions from exhumed faults.
Posted inNews
What Controls Giant Subduction Earthquakes?
Subduction zones with a low dipping angle and thick sediments can produce giant earthquakes; this finding lets researchers estimate worst-case scenarios for coastlines around the world.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Eruption Seismic Tremor Modeled as a Fluvial Process
Impact and turbulence models for river tremor are adapted and combined into a model that predicts the amplitude and frequency content of volcanic eruption tremor.