When the Earth rumbles and no one knows why, seismologists can analyze the seismic event's waveforms to determine whether a hidden explosion or an earthquake caused the shaking.
earthquakes
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Oklahoma's Dormant Faults Hide Huge Seismic Risk Potential
Researchers look at induced seismicity data in Oklahoma to spot an increase of stress in faults that could cause even more damage than recent quakes.
Posted inNews
The Backwards Earthquakes
Earthquakes in Idaho's panhandle are usually caused by the Earth's crust pulling apart. So why were earthquakes on 24 April pushing the crust together?
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Aftershocks of Old Quakes Still Shake New Madrid Seismic Zone
Geodetic data show that earthquakes in 1450 and 1811–1812 may be responsible for present-day seismic activity in the region.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
An Ionospheric Index to Predict Earthquakes Falls Short
Scientists disagree about the validity of the spatial scintillation index, a tool that aims to forecast earthquakes based on atmospheric disturbances.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Wharton Basin Earthquakes: Evidence for a New Plate Boundary?
The largest ever strike-slip earthquake may have occurred on a newly developing boundary between the Indian and Australian plates.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Extracting New Meaning from Seismological Data
Scientists use noise data collected at the Long Beach dense array to measure elusive high-frequency surface waves.
Posted inOpinions
My Life in Baseball and Earthquakes
How earthquakes interrupted a Royals game and thrust me into a whirlpool of politics, media, and law.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Probing for Earthquakes' Origins
To better understand how earthquakes nucleate, scientists spy on the Alpine Fault in New Zealand.
Posted inFeatures
What Lies Deep in the Mantle Below?
For decades, scientists have probed Earth's remote mantle by analyzing how seismic waves of distant earthquakes pass through it. But we are still challenged by the technique's limitations.